Saturday, February 27, 2010

How Does Wealth Correspond With Religion?

So I was wondering if there was a correlation between religion and wealth.

Does God care who gets wealthy?
If so, it seems that God would favor the "chosen" team over the "enemy."
Based upon who gathers wealth, can we accurately determine if God favors people in certain religions over others?

Here's a look at the 2009 Forbes Top 25 with their corresponding countries and religions (to the best of my investigation). If you have some other sources that indicate any of these are incorrect, or if you can help fill in the "Unknowns", I would be appreciative.

1. Bill Gates - $40 billion (US) - Agnostic
2. Warren Buffet - $37 billion (US) - Agnostic
3. Carlos Slim Helu -$35 billion (Mexico) - Maronite Catholic (click to learn about Maronites)
4. Lawrence Ellison - $22.5 billion (US) - Atheist
5. Ingvar Kamprad - $22 billion (Sweden) - Church of Sweden (Lutheran)
6. Karl Albrecht - $21.5 billion (Germany) - Unknown
7. Mukesh Ambani - $19.5 billion (India) - Hindu
8. Lakshmi Mittal - $19.3 billion (India) - Hindu
9. Theo Albrecht - $18.8 billion (Germany) - Unknown
10. Amancio Ortega - $18.3 billion (Spain) - (It is assumed he is Catholic)
11. Jim Walton - $17.8 billion (US) - Presbyterian
12. Alice Walton - $17.6 billion (US) - Presbyterian
13. Christy Walton - $17.6 billion (US) - Presbyterian
14. S Robson Walton - $17.6 billion (US) - Presbyterian
15. Bernard Arnault - $16.5 billion (France) - (It is assumed he is Catholic)
16. Li Ka-shing - $16.2 billion (Hong Kong) - Buddhist
17. Michael Bloomberg - $16 billion (US) - Jewish
18. Stefan Persson - $14.5 billion (Sweden) - (It is assumed he is in the Church of Sweden -Lutheran)
19. Charles Koch - $14 billion (US) - Methodist
20. David Koch - $14 billion (US) - Methodist
21. Liliane Bettencourt - $13.4 billion (France) - Unknown
22. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud - $13.3 billion (Saudi Arabia) - Islamic (Muslim)
23. Michael Otto - $13.2 billion (Germany) - Unknown
24. David Thomson - $13 billion (Canada) - Unknown
25. Michael Dell - $12.3 billion (US) - Jewish

ANALYSIS:
The numbers indicate that 3 of the top 4 are Agnostic/Atheist.
There are 8 Christians (with another 3 as possibles) yet 5 different sects.
There are 2 Hindus and 2 of the Jewish faith.
There is 1 Buddhist and 1 Muslim.
And of course, there are 5 Unknowns.

11 are US citizens; 3 Germans; 2 from France, Sweden and India.
1 each from Mexico, Spain, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

My answer: No, there is no correlation between wealth and religion except that America's openly capitalist society seems to inherently enable more Americans to achieve greater wealth. Hence, greater numbers of wealthy business people tend to belong to the dominant American religions.

1 comment:

Nicole Shelby said...

Another thing to think about...

God aside...some religions seem to condemn their members for seeking monetary/secular success, while simultaneously praising God for their blessings. How does that work?