Hobby Lobby CEO David Green wrote in an op-ed for Fox News on Friday, “Patagonia’s founder recently made news when he gave away the ownership in his company to allow the mission and purpose to remain intact… I experienced a similar decision-making process with my ownership of Hobby Lobby; I chose God.”
During an interview on Sunday’s “Fox & Friends Weekend”, Green told anchor Will Cain that his calling is to be a steward rather than an owner, saying: “There’s a huge paradigm change between owning a company and stewarding it, and we want to be stewards of what God has given us.”
Green, who founded Hobby Lobby in 1972, told Cain that 100 percent of the company’s voting stock was placed into a trust where the “stewardship” can continue to be conveyed from one person to another.
He added, “All the voting stock is in 1% in its trust, and it is being managed and being stewarded instead of seeing ourselves as owners.”
Green also says that giving up ownership of Hobby Lobby helps honor God “tremendously” because it alleviates the burden of wealth.
He explained, “Wealth can be a curse and, in most cases, if you drill down on it, wealth is a curse in terms of marriage, children and things of that nature; so, we’re stewarding our company and, therefore, our children come to work, and they get what they earn… it’s a paradigm change from ownership that can really wreck a family.”