why the watchtower is so short of money

by pepperheart 89 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  DesirousOfChange

  I also find it hard to believe that WT is broke. They amassed BILLION$ from the sale of their real estate in the past 2 years -- just in Brooklyn.

  The have a steady, guaranteed fixed income from Circus Assemblies where they are now guaranteed a per head "donation".

  I suspect that on the CO's visit, every Cong is scrutinized to see if they are sending sufficient funds to Mother each month. If not, the Company Official (CO) will likely threaten counsel the BOE about their lack of generosity.

  Sure there are monthly expenses for Bethel properties, just like we all have monthly expenses -- electric, water, phone, maintenance (but they have free labor), but a vast amount of their operating expenses (CO's cars, insurance, weekly expenses, etc) are all covered by the local Cong & Circus.

  So what if they have an occasional million dollar abuse settlement? I suspect that every Ass Hall sends in more than that in "voluntary donations" annually. How many Ass Halls are there in the Western World? (3rd World countries likely are not able to contribute like the US, Europe, etc).

  I still am suspicious about this constant begging for money. I think they are building a huge endowment fund to be invested off shore to relieve them from the need to depend on sporadic donations. JMHO
  
• 

  westiebilly11

  ..and their income is supplemented by tax relief....being registered charity.
  
• 

  oppostate

  I get the feeling they're amassing a huge nest-egg-dividend-paying fund that will firewall them from litigious abuse victims and what-not court cases.

  After the death of the GB 1.0'ers the strategy changes came fast and strong and it definitely feels like the goal post is on amassing as many assets as possible.
• 

  Sigfrid Mallozzi

  Compare the behavior of Sears to Watchtower!

  "Selling off assets to make up for sales and revenue shortfalls would become standard operating procedure for the chain over the next five years, but in 2012, then-CEO Lou D'Ambrosio probably had no idea that the worst was yet to come."

  In the article

  Here's How Far Sears Holdings Has Fallen in 5 Years (https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/10/heres-how-far-sears-holdings-has-fallen-in-5-years.aspx)

  The retailer has been getting smaller and shedding assets with few signs it will right its ship.

  Daniel B. Kline

  (TMFDankline)

  Jul 10, 2017 at 9:31AM

  Where does Sears stand now?

  In five years, Sears has gone from $9.3 billion in Q1 sales to $4.3 billion. It has also seen its store count drop by more than half, not counting its now-sold Canada operation. When 2012 began, the company had 1,305 Kmart stores and 867 full-line Sears stores in the U.S.

  Five years later, at the close of Q1 2017, the company had just 626 full-line Sears and 624 Kmart locations. It has also sold off its Craftsman brand and countless real estate assets and plans to close 72 more stores by September.

  In addition, at the end of Q1 2012, Sears had a cash balance totaling $784 million and inventory of $8.8 billion. Five years later, at the close of Q1 2017, the company had $3.7 billion in debt, a number that's exactly the same as its total liquidity and liquid assets.

  In five years, Sears has gone from $9.5 billion in cash and inventory, not to mention now sold-off assets like Craftsman, to a total value of $0. That's a stunning decline made worse by the fact that profitability seems no closer than it did five years ago.

  What's next for Sears Holdings?

  While Lampert remains optimistic that a turnaround remains possible, Sears' only successes have been in turning its assets into cash. Sales dropped by $1.1 billion year-over-year in Q1, and Sears stores saw a 12.4% decline in same-store sales while Kmart's fell by 11.2%.

  There's no reason to believe that any of that will change before Sears runs out of money. The company also runs the risk that its vendors will stop shipping merchandise or demand payment up front, which would effectively put it out of business.

  Sears has lots of ways to go bankrupt or be forced to close and few to save itself. The company has put up a mighty struggle, but dwindling assets and sinking sales are a deadly combination that it likely cannot recover from.
• 

  _Morpheus

  Now lets rewrite that byline to accurately reflect the wt org...

  ”sears has shown modest growth in assets (publishers, in the wt comparison) while cutting costs by closing poorly producing brick and mortar locations (kingdomhalls).”

  Still feel the same?
• 

  Incognito

  Isn't it odd there is plenty of verifyable information made public for Sears and other private corporation finaces, but so little to be found regarding WT? Instead, GB 2.0 claim WT expenses exceed donations, even as it is subsidized by the public through tax exempt status, but they do not provide independant audited financial statements to support and verify those claims.

  Just as active JWs can never do enough in preaching (do more, do more, do more ...), JWs can also never donate enough to satisfy WT's insatiable appetite for money.
• 

  LV101

  WT practices this trick regularly at assemblies by lying/deceiving the JWs there's a deficit - it works every time/perfect! They've just added this to their videos - another WIN-WIN!
• 

  JW GoneBad

  Like Sears Roebuck & Company...Watchtower & Company will eventually drown in debt!
• 

  asp59

  They not short on money. Probably have more then ever with Brooklyn sell and online magazines. Just that things or not being blessed. Magazine, meetings , assembly. No point going on with something that is not working.
• 

  pontoon

  Why do so many not understand the corp begging for money??? It's so simple, they beg and the money pours in. It is just one of their income streams along with their rental KH properties, AH properties, real estate business, selling bible promise of everlasting life. Begging is part of their business model. Simple.