Who are the shareholders?

[Viking]

The Mormon church is a corporation. Who are its shareholders? How does ownership pass? Do the shareholders recuse themselves from any economic benefit?

[Katy Lied]

You could probably talk to Steve Bensen about this over at the Arizona Republic. Save you lots of duplicate research.

[Green Monstah]

The Mormon church is a corporation. Who are its shareholders? How does ownership pass? Do the shareholders recuse themselves from any economic benefit?

It's not a corporation how you'd normally think of one. I can't remember the name (someone help me out), but it's a type of corporation that was initially created in England to shelter the assets of the Anglican Church. I think it's called a corporation sole, and it's roughly analagous to a single-member LLC (LLCs are a fairly recent legal invention).

[Viking]

You could probably talk to Steve Bensen about this over at the Arizona Republic. Save you lots of duplicate research.

This is useless without a link

[Viking]

It's not a corporation how you'd normally think of one. I can't remember the name (someone help me out), but it's a type of corporation that was initially created in England to shelter the assets of the Anglican Church. I think it's called a corporation sole, and it's roughly analagous to a single-member LLC (LLCs are a fairly recent legal invention).

no matter, it still has beneficial owners. there's no such thing as a legal entity w/o a beneficial owner(s)

[Uncle Ted]

It's not a corporation how you'd normally think of one. I can't remember the name (someone help me out), but it's a type of corporation that was initially created in England to shelter the assets of the Anglican Church. I think it's called a corporation sole, and it's roughly analagous to a single-member LLC (LLCs are a fairly recent legal invention).

In 1923, the church incorporated the Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah to receive and manage money and church donations. In 1997, the church incorporated Intellectual Reserve, Inc. to hold all the church's copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property. The church also holds several non-tax-exempt corporations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finance...ter-day_Saints

[Green Monstah]

no matter, it still has beneficial owners. there's no such thing as a legal entity w/o a beneficial owner(s)

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation_sole"]Corporation sole - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="image"><img alt="Question book-new.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png[/ame]

Good explanation in general. It was created to allow for easy transfer of assets when the head of an organization was succeeded by another.

I'd assume the LDS Church owns 100% of the Corporation of the President of the LDS Church.

[pellegrino]

no matter, it still has beneficial owners. there's no such thing as a legal entity w/o a beneficial owner(s)

I believe the beneficial owners are those who hold the office of the First Presidency. There is no provision for a rank and file member, or even a General Authority to hold a stake in the corporation. This is what prevents members from the legal right to look at the books, as only shareholders have that right. As far as I understand it, there is only one shareholder, maybe three.

[Green Monstah]

I believe the beneficial owners are those who hold the office of the First Presidency. There is no provision for a rank and file member, or even a General Authority to hold a stake in the corporation. This is what prevents members from the legal right to look at the books, as only shareholders have that right. As far as I understand it, there is only one shareholder, maybe three.

After thinking it through, it almost certainly has to be President of the Church. The whole reason for a corporation sole is to transfer property when one person succeeds another. Could be First Presidency too, but this doesn't make as much sense considering the form of entity.

[pellegrino]

After thinking it through, it almost certainly has to be President of the Church. The whole reason for a corporation sole is to transfer property when one person succeeds another. Could be First Presidency too, but this doesn't make as much sense considering the form of entity.

I remember reading about this, but I can't remember where. I think you're right, but IIRC, the wording of the corporation implies that it's the first presidency.

Edit: Here is where I read it:

http://timesandseasons.org/index.php...ration-part-i/
http://timesandseasons.org/index.php...ation-part-ii/
http://timesandseasons.org/index.php...tion-part-iii/

It's spelled out in #3 that it's the first presidency, not just the prophet
plus, there's also the corporation of the presiding bishopric, so two entities. I'm not really sure how they interact.

[Moliere]

I remember reading about this, but I can't remember where. I think you're right, but IIRC, the wording of the corporation implies that it's the first presidency.

Edit: Here is where I read it:

http://timesandseasons.org/index.php...ration-part-i/
http://timesandseasons.org/index.php...ation-part-ii/
http://timesandseasons.org/index.php...tion-part-iii/

It's spelled out in #3 that it's the first presidency, not just the prophet
plus, there's also the corporation of the presiding bishopric, so two entities. I'm not really sure how they interact.

The beneficial owner is the president of the church. When he dies ownership passes on to the highest ranking apostle. This is written into to articles of incorporation of which I'll provide a link when I get to a computer. The succession of authority is basically written into the legal documents.

[Pheidippides]

no matter, it still has beneficial owners. there's no such thing as a legal entity w/o a beneficial owner(s)

I know a number of 501(c)(3) nonprofits that might quibble with that.

[Moliere]

The beneficial owner is the president of the church. When he dies ownership passes on to the highest ranking apostle. This is written into to articles of incorporation of which I'll provide a link when I get to a computer. The succession of authority is basically written into the legal documents.

http://www.xmission.com/~research/central/chorg3.htm

That's the best link I have. I remember seeing an scanned executed copy somewhere but I can't remember where.