“I chose God”: Hobby Lobby founder announces he’s giving up company ownership

October 25, 2022

By Julia Johnson

Reprinted from The Washington Examiner

In announcing his decision to give up ownership of Hobby Lobby, CEO and founder David Green attributed the company’s success to God and cited his religion as the reason he is relinquishing it.

In an op-ed for Fox News, Green claimed that “all my success had come from God.”

“As we were blessed by God, we saw it as a great privilege to give back. We’ve been able to provide hope through supporting ministries and planting churches all over the world,” he explained.

Green described thinking deeply about the future of the company before ultimately deciding to give up ownership. He admitted being inspired by Patagonia’s former owner, Yvon Chouinard, who transferred ownership of his company to a specially designed trust and nonprofit organization.

“I experienced a similar decision-making process with my ownership of Hobby Lobby; I chose God,” he said.

“That bigger mission and purpose helped me realize that I was just a steward, a manager of what God had entrusted me,” Green wrote. “God was the true owner of my business.”

“When I realized that I was just a steward, it was easy to give away my ownership,” he continued.

He explained that his realization of stewardship, rather than ownership, drove him to pay workers $18.50 an hour, close the business on Sundays, and close by 8 p.m. each evening. Green said he felt a responsibility to care for his employees in these ways.