Joel Osteen Did Not Receive a PPP Loan
The Claim
Joel Osteen received a $4.4 million PPP loan.
News posted on
Emerging story
Twitter users tweeted that the popular televangelist Pastor Joel Osteen has made religion a lucrative career, saying his $10.5 million house shows why he needed a $4.4 million PPP loan. In less than 24 hours, his tweet has been retweeted more than two thousand times and liked by more than six thousand Twitter users.
Misbar’s Analysis
Joel Osteen did not personally benefit from the Federal Paycheck Protection Program Loan. The PPP loan was provided by the Small Business Administration (SBA) as a stimulus package to help small businesses in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.
According to WSLS.com and click2houston.com, although Lakewood church received the loan, it did not benefit Joel Osteen personally or his family. Instead, it was used to support the church's more than 300 employees since it had not “collect substantial donations” due to the suspension of its in-person services.
According to Money Inc, Joel Osteen, who pastors the famous Lakewood church located in Housten, Texas, is estimated to have a net worth of about $60 million but does not take the $200,000 salary he is entitled to as pastor of the church. Distractify.com also confirms this. Rather, his money comes from sales of his books, many of which have gone on to become bestsellers. For example, one of his books, Your Best Life Now, went on to sell more than 100 million copies in 2004 and was on The New York Times’ Best Seller for more than 100 weeks. He has written 14 books so far, many of which have also recorded remarkable sales.
Misbar concludes the claim that Joel Osteen personally received $4.4. Million in PPP loan is misleading.
