Thomas S Monson Net Worth: Mormon Church President Had No Salary

The president of the Church of Latter-day Saints, Thomas S. Monson died Tuesday aged 90, according to a statement by the church.

The top Mormon leader died of "causes related to his age," while he was with his family, the statement said.

Monson who was also a prophet of the church, had one of the "full-time religious positions available to Mormons," according to his website. Despite a full-time service, Monson and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the top leaders of the church did not receive any salaries. This was due to fears of priestcraft — the ability to become wealthy doing the work of the church, the website said.

"While most religions pay their ministers and many leaders of popular churches become wealthy, a Mormon leader can only achieve wealth prior to his call to full-time service. No matter how much money the Church makes, leaders do not personally profit from that money," it stated.

The Salt Lake Tribune, however, reported the purported pay stubs for a high-ranking church Mormon official as seen from documents that had leaked online that stated Henry B. Eyring, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the 2000s, earned $83,132.75 from the start of 2000 until the first week of December. The figure was broken down into a living allowance ($2,192.31), parsonage or clergy housing, ($826.92) and a child allowance ($76.92).

In 2014, another memo was leaked, which said the "base living allowance" for all Mormon general authorities was being raised from $116,400 to $120,000. Other additional income or perks including heath care benefits, free cars or book royalties were unclear.

At the time, LDS Church spokesman Eric Hawkins declined to confirm the numbers and said: "General authorities leave their careers when they are called into full-time church service. When they do so, they focus all of their time on serving the church and are given a living allowance. The living allowance is uniform for all general authorities [including First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, First and Second Quorums of the Seventy and Presiding Bishopric]."

Monson's website added that those in the higher positions could not hold outside employment, although had sources of private income. The Net Worth Post estimated Monson’s net worth as $14 million.

According to the Mormon Curtain, a blog that claims to provide aid to former Mormons "who are on the road to recovery," and informs Mormons who are looking for more information on their own religion, the prophet and his apostles were given living arrangements and lived in a 24000-plus square foot condo estimated at a value of $2.8 million. Another blog, Mormon Insider, said he and his wife Frances were the owners of a second home in the upscale Utah town of Midway and its market value in 2013 was estimated at $383,734.

They had an additional property up Provo Canyon in Utah and its value was estimated to be around $216,000.

International Business Times could not independently confirm the numbers given in the reports.

Monson worked in publishing prior to joining the LDS and became associated with the Deseret News in 1948, where he served as an executive in the advertising division. He was later named sales manager of the Deseret News Press and rose to the position of general manager, a position he held at the time of his appointment to the Quorum of the Twelve in 1963 according to the website of the LDS.

He also served as the chairman of the board of Deseret News Publishing Co. and was a former member of the board of directors of Printing Industries of America.

Monson had a wide business background, having served as a member of the College of Business faculty at the University of Utah and later receiving his MBA degree from Brigham Young University.

He served as chairman of the LDS Church Board of Education and Board of Trustees at the time of his death.

His website stated the possibility that he received a stipend but did not give any actual monetary figure. "It is possible he receives a stipend, due to how young he was when he gave up paid employment, but it’s also possible his children and other relatives support him instead. He may even have savings invested that support him. How he supports himself really isn’t important. However he does so, he does not receive a paycheck or a share of the money brought in by the church," the website said.