A former investment manager for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints alleged in a bombshell “60 Minutes” segment that the organization amassed more than $100 billion to be used for charity but instead hoarded the money or spent it on a rare collection of beanie babies, violating the church’s tax-exempt status. The LDS church has since issued a statement pushing back on the claims, calling the episode “unfortunate.”
David Nielsen worked in the LDS church’s investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors, for 9 years, managing their portfolio. In 2019, David Nielsen submitted a whistleblower complaint to the IRS against what he describes as the LDS church’s “terribly naive investment of a terribly large amount of untaxed money.” This recent interview with “60 Minutes” was Nielsen’s first time speaking publicly since filing the complaint.
Nielsen told “60 Minutes” that, during his time with Ensign Peak, he witnessed the firm falsifying records and statements to pose as a charitable organization. He alleges that, meanwhile, the money they collected was being spent on beanie babies, rather than spent on the philanthropic endeavors promised. Nielsen also alleges that the church deceived its members on how their donations were being spent.
Nielsen says he joined Ensign Peak after a stint on Wall Street, thinking he could use his skills to do good by working for a charitable organization. He was a practicing member of the LDS church at the time.
“You could solve big problems with $100 billion,” Nielsen said. “I thought we were gonna change the world. And we just bought beanie babies.”
Nielsen revealed to “60 Minutes” that, in 2013, $1.4 billion from Ensign Peak’s reserve fund was reportedly used to build a mall in Salt Lake City on land owned by the church, which it would later profit from. In addition, $600 million from the fund was supposedly spent to support a church-owned, for-profit insurance company called Beneficial Life.
A day after the episode aired, the church released a statement saying, “It’s unfortunate 60 Minutes sought to elevate a story told by a former employee who has a different view on how the Church should manage its resources.” The church added that it plans to “move forward consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”