The world’s wealthiest televangelist, billionaire Edir Macedo of Brazil, has listed his beach condo in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, for sale. After a recent price reduction, Macedo is asking almost $14.6 million for the luxurious residence in the Porsche Design Tower.
Macedo’s neighbors have included Russian oligarchs, soccer player Lionel Messi, Columbian singer Maluma, Mexican actress Thalía and Andrea Romanello Ferdinand, the daughter of Patrick Romanello, whom The New York Times reported was “alleged to be an associate of the Bonanno crime family.”
In 2013, as the $560 million Porsche Design Tower was under construction, The Real Deal reported, “Nearly two dozen of the homes — 22 — under contract will belong to billionaires.” The luxury tower sports car garages and a patented elevator lifting autos to each floor!
And there might be more personal property in the United States. One property database indicates Macedo’s family owns a $9.6 million beach condo. However, the Miami-Dade County assessor website doesn’t list their names. Instead, a mysterious LLC with unnamed managers is shown as the owner.
Meanwhile Macedo’s church has also accumulated and sold luxury real estate. In 2023, Macedo’s church sold a beach condo in Sunny Isles Beach for $7.8 million which real estate website Redfin described as a "palace in the sky."
Who is Edir Macedo?
Macedo is ranked as the 1,901 wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine, with an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion.
Macedo is bishop of the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, which operates church campuses in Brazil, Portugal, Mexico, the U.S. and other nations. Macedo’s church constructed a modern replica of Solomon’s temple in Brazil and owns four jets and a helicopter.
In addition to being a pastor, Macedo is a businessman, running the Record TV network and owns Banco Renner, a Brazilian bank.
Allegations of money laundering have dogged Macedo and his church for years.
In 2008, Macedo and nine of his associates were charged with money laundering $2 billion. The Associated Press reported, “The church allegedly used fake companies to launder the money, moving the assets abroad and then returning them in the form of loans used by Macedo and his accomplices to buy businesses, prosecutors said.” The Brazilian courts failed to convict Macedo his colleagues.
In 2019, Angola’s Criminal Investigation Service charged four church leaders with financial crimes, including money laundering. Ver Angola reported that as a result of the investigation, the Angolan immigration authorities told 22 Brazilian church members to leave the country.
Seeing the big picture
Last year, Trinity Foundation reported on the discovery of 40 beach houses, beach condos and waterfront homes in coastal cities owned by church and ministry leaders and their nonprofit organizations. These 40 properties are worth a combined $140 million.
Macedo’s beach condo was the most expensive waterfront or beachfront property on the list.
Recently, Trinity Foundation’s master address list for religious leaders topped 500 pages in length. Building a large dataset is necessary to study and understand the accumulation of wealth by religious leaders.
The master list includes American homes owned by pastors from Australia, the Bahamas, Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Sometimes the residences, such as Macedo’s beach condo, appear to be for vacations. However, several foreign pastors who own these houses have come to America to start new churches.
For example, a decade ago, Australian Ben Houston, the son of Hillsong founder Brian Houston, moved to the U.S. to start a Hillsong Church in the Los Angeles area.
Nigerian Pastor Enoch Adeboye has acquired homes in Maryland and Texas. Adeboye serves as General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). Under his leadership the RCCG has become one of the fastest growing denominations in the world.
The RCCG’s Mission and Vision Statement says that “we will plant churches within five minutes walking distance in every city and town of developing countries and within five minutes driving distance in every city and town of developed countries.”
The RCCG has established its North American headquarters in Greenville, Texas, and owns $32.5 million of real estate in Hunt County, Texas.
Adeboye personally owns 20 acres of land in Hunt County, Texas. Meanwhile there is a 28-acre plot of land in Farmersville, Texas, that has changed hands between Adeboye and his church multiple times.
Other preachers from Africa with both churches and residences in the U.S., include Passion Java who lives in Beltsville, Maryland, and Chika Nnamdi Onuzo in Newnan, Georgia.
Asking critical questions
According to Redfin, the median sale price for an American home in February was $425,249. When pastors and ministry leaders live in extreme extravagance, acquiring properties worth significantly more than the average home in their local area, questions naturally arise.
Donors have a responsibility to check out the churches and ministries they financially support. When a church or ministry refuses to provide thorough and accurate financial information, donors are unable to make educated decisions regarding the effectiveness of their giving.
One of our goals is reporting financial information to the public that religious leaders frequently refuse to disclose, such as luxury housing costs and private jets.
This article was originally published at the Trinity Foundation
