Billionaire Jeff T. Green quits Mormons, gives $ 600,000 to LGBTQ + group

In a letter, he denounces the excesses of the Mormon church and the opacity of its finances.

Billionaire, said to be the richest person from the state of Utah in the United States , has officially left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Church, and denounced his excesses, he who no longer considers himself a believer.

Jeff T. Green has also pledged to donate 90% of his $ 5 billion fortune, acquired after founding a company specializing in digital advertising.

He started by donating $ 600,000 to an  LGBTQ + rights group in Utah, reports the Salt Lake Tribune .

The Mormon Church has previously been criticized for its conservative social positions, including its opposition to same-sex marriage. Women also do not hold the priesthood in faith, as black men did before the 1970s.

“I believe the Mormon Church has hindered global progress on women's rights, civil rights and racial equality, and LGBTQ + rights,” wrote Jeff T. Green in a letter to the president of the Russell M. Nelson Mormon Church.

He regrets the lack of charitable actions

According to the billionaire , most members of the Mormon church “are good people who try to do well,” but he is also concerned about the transparency of the church's finances.

He thus criticizes the wealth accumulated by the religious organization over time, which derives the majority of its finances from the compulsory tithe paid by its members, which is 10% of their income. “This money comes from people, often poor, who believe with all their heart that you represent the will of Jesus,” he says, also regretting the lack of charitable actions.

Leaders have defended the way the church uses and invests donations from its members, saying most are used for operational and humanitarian needs, but some is protected to build a reserve for the future.

Eleven family members of Jeff T. Green and a friend of his also officially resigned with him.