https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/03/07/lds-church-discloses/

The former whistleblower low balled it by almost a billion, it's actually closer to 40 Billion, not 30 Billion.

But who's counting anyway, one may ask? The great accountant in the sky that's who, even He that knows every birdie that falls from the sky. He knows every penny. The Lord is the great banker and broker of the universe- didn't you know. It was he who saith, "Render unto Ceaser that which is Ceasers, and to God that which is Gods." He wasn't kidding.

The key line in the article, "quietly disclosed in Feb"

Very small tip of a very large iceberg...

well, that portfolio is taking a hit today for sure.

The Lord's one true investment fund.

I'm a reasonable guy who can tolerate a lot but I found LDC, Inc.'s financial secrecy to be crazy.

Sure, you need to pay top leadership like any organization okay--but don't give us this load of unpaid, volunteers BS.

Look, I get that any organization of substantial size is going to need some measure of a buffer against bad times, invest money for their pensions, etc. But this would appear to go beyond that--especially for a group that relies heavily on volunteer labor (missionaries, members) for so much.

If you've ever been involved in managing another type of church, this becomes really easy to see how so much money gets stockpiled. The biggest expenses you wrestle with in the average congregation are staff and buildings and grounds. Sure volunteers do some work, but there's generally professional leadership, and the building is generally only used by one congregation--maybe two if you have a rental agreement or something. Anyway, where you have 3-4 wards often sharing the same space at staggered meeting times, the building gets a lot of use--but a lot of people are using it. My point is that's a huge multiplied savings across many units for a long time--no wonder this surplus exists.

What this stockpile really shows me is a lack of leadership vision for this organization. They resisted creating another university--why? What is this money for? Do they do some good with the resources they have? Sure. But, I we all might do quite a bit of good managing that much coin.

The second coming justification is flimsy. Stocks can't retain value during a virus outbreak--imagine what the end of days would do to them.