Joel Scott Osteen was born on 5 March 1963, in Houston, Texas USA, and is a writer, pastor, evangelist, as well as a Senior Preacher of Lakewood Church, which is considered to be the largest Protestant church in the US. Joel Osteen is perhaps best known as a televangelist who has a monthly audience of over 20 million viewers in more than 100 countries, and is often referred to as the “Smiling Preacher”.
So just how rich is Joel Osteen? According to authoritative sources, Joel’s net worth is estimated to amount to $40 million as of mid-2016; the main sources of his wealth are his writings, as well as evangelical preachings.
Joel Osteen Net Worth $40 Million
Joel Osteen’s father was John, a former pastor who was the founder of the Lakewood Church, and mother Dolores Pilgrim. Initially, Osteen studied at Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma, but soon returned to Houston and launched a television program for Lakewood Church, which soon enough became one of the most famous preaching programs. However, Joel Osteen was very reluctant to preach himself on television, and preferred to work behind the scenes. In 1999, his father, before his sudden death from a heart attack, convinced Joel to preach his first sermon, but after the death of his father, Joel Osteen inherited the church and became the senior preacher of Lakewood Church. Osteen’s sermons managed to attract 43,000 people to the church and increase the attendance considerably from an initial 5,000.
The year 2005 witnessed a grand opening of the Lakewood Church, with the attendance of 56,000 people, among whom were some very well-known celebrities including Nancy Pelosi and Rick Perry. Considered to be among ten of the most fascinating people chosen by Barbara Walters, Joel Osteen has managed to create a worldwide phenomenon. The Lakewood Church television program is extremely popular both in the United States and abroad; known for his unique preaching style, Osteen can be now seen and heard in over 100 nations with seven million regular weekly viewers. His net worth is certainly being sustained.
A successful preacher, Osteen did not stop at broadcasting sermons only. With the release of his book “Your Best Life Now”, Osteen succeeded at launching a commercially profitable writing career, as the book sold over four million copies and topped the New York Times best-seller list for 200 weeks. Following the success of his first book, in 2007, Joel Osteen published his second book “Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day”. With the focus on relationships and life in general, the book attracted a large readership and peaked at #1 on the best-seller list. The revenue from his second book is estimated to have added $13 million to his $40 million net worth. So far, Joel Osteen has published five books, all of which at some point topped the best-seller lists. His net worth continues to grow.
In his personal life, Joel Osteen has been married to Victoria Iloff since 1987; they have a son and a daughter, and are based in New York City.
