I recall reading years ago devout, poor, JWs, were living in their cars, freezing in the winter (if that good) supporting this charlatan -- clueless about it all. Just wrong.
I think JWs want their leaders to look good and represent them well - or that was my opinion decades ago. I heard a couple of JWs refer to all the Crooklyn properties as success, "who wouldn't be impressed with all that," when pointing out in one of the publications (hard-bound book) a photo of the cult's buildings. They were proud of all the real estate and thought it would prove the religion is so big in NY and truth, I guess. Sure shocked me -- I thought they were a poor religion - NOPE!