The Mormons traded in their cooperation economy for a booming capitalist one. Today the Church owns a major life insurance firm, one of the largest cattle ranches in the United States, and a company that was once the country’s leading nut producer. LDS also manages over $100 billion through a tax-exempt fund called Ensign Peak Advisors, and the Church controls a sprawling real estate portfolio that may be the most valuable in the United States.

Few outside the Church knew of Ensign Peak’s wealth until 2019, when one of its portfolio managers tore apart its veil of secrecy. In a complaint to the IRS, David Nielsen alleged that the then-obscure nonprofit was not a charitable foundation but a titanic hedge fund, with $100 billion under management. The revelation caused shock waves both inside and outside the LDS. Mormons, who are expected to tithe 10% of their income to the Church, were dismayed to find their money sitting in an investment account instead of supporting charity. The SEC, which discovered that Ensign Peak had concealed its assets through a spiderweb of shell companies, fined the firm $4 million and the Church $1 million. Five years later, Ensign Peak is chugging on, still tax-exempt. Independent investigators recently estimated that the firm’s portfolio was worth $157 billion at the end of 2022.