Net Worth: $5 million Did you know there was such a thing as megachurches? While the title sounds pretty boss, it simply describes a church with a regularly attending congregation of 2,000 or more people. Your boy, John Hagee, presides over just such a megachurch in San Antonio, Texas.
Hagee completed his theological education in the ’70s and went on to lead San Antonio’s Trinity Church. He then created the Castle Hill Church, before moving on to his grand project: Cornerstone, which is the megachurch we spoke of just moments ago. Hagee is a Christian-Zionist whose sermons are television and broadcast over the radio.
Reinhard Bonnke
Net Worth: $4 million Here’s a millionaire pastor whose mission for God led him all the way to Africa. The German-born missionary obtained his education in Swansea before returning to his homeland to preach. He didn’t stay in Germany long though, as he felt inexplicably drawn to Africa. While his efforts were a bit of a failure early on, Bonnke claims he continued to receive visions and messages from God instructing him to persevere.
He founded the organization, Christ for all Nations (CfaN) and, in the wake of its successful spread, now claims to have preached to more residents of our planet than any other evangelical pastor in the world. Bonnke became embroiled in a humanitarian crisis in 1991 when rumors were spread that he intended to blaspheme against Muhammad during his visit to a predominantly Islamic region of Nigeria. Riots broke out during his visit, many Christians were injured and Bonnke wasn’t safely able to return to Nigeria until the 2000's.
Noel Jones
Net Worth: $5 million Far less controversial man of God: Noel Jones. At 19 years of age, when his contemporaries were focused on girls and underage drinking, Jones had enrolled himself in Aenon Bible College. He went on to graduate with a bachelor of science degree, majoring in theology.
Jones went on to become a minister for the Greater Bethany Community Church, located in Los Angeles. The charismatic preacher proved to be such a draw card that the congregation of the church ballooned to such a degree that a new location had to be obtained. His flock is now more than 17,000 people strong and Jones has even released a gospel album that topped the Billboard 200 Gospel Album chart in 2007.
Joseph Prince
Net Worth: $5 million Stepping outside of the states for a moment, allow us to introduce you to Joseph Prince, a pastor for Singapore’s New Creation Church. Like Hagee’s Cornerstone, New Creation is a megachurch. Prince also acts as the church’s executive chairman and he earns what many would call an obscene amount of money for his efforts. Hence his multi-millionaire status.
In the wake of receiving a $50,000 per month pay raise, Prince admitted to The Sunday Times that he was, indeed “well paid.”
Al Sharpton
Net Worth: $5 million As a civil rights activist, minister, and host of many television and radio shows, Al Sharpton cut a controversial path through American history. The Baptist minister was ordained in 1994 and went on to become an advisor to Barack Obama during his presidency. While Obama described Sharpton as "the voice of the voiceless and a champion for the downtrodden," there’s no denying his multi-millionaire status puts him in a whole different league to the people he’s supposed to be the voice of.
This wouldn’t be such an issue if it wasn’t for the fact that Sharpton allegedly spent a good few years dodging his debts and avoiding paying taxes. Sharpton’s career has, in fact, been dogged by controversy with everything from slander and involvement in fake rape allegations, to being a spokesperson for a dodgy loan company. There were even allegations that he was an FBI informant, leaking information on fellow civil rights activists. While these are all rumors, it’s still a bit ironic that Sharpton hosts a radio show entitled Keepin’ It Real.