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Introduction
Joel Osteen an American televangelist based in Houston, Texas. His televised sermons are very popular garnering more than 20 million monthly viewers over a multitude of countries. His is also the author of the The New York Times Best Seller called “Your Best Life Now” which managed to stay within the The New York Times Best Seller list for more than 200 weeks, which is a very impressive record.
Early Life
Osteen was born on March 5, 1963 in Houston, Texas. His father is the founder of Lakewood Church and a former Southern Baptist pastor. He has five other siblings with whom he grew up with. He studied at Humble High School and went on to study at the Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma where his focus of studies was on radio and television communications. He thus looked over the production of his father’s televised sermons for almost 17 years working behind the scenes.
Career
Osteen was busy working behind the scenes for the production but would later start to preach near the death of his father. He preached his first semon. Just six days later, his father John Semon suffered from a heart attack and sadly passed away. This was definitely an event which hit Osteen emotionally and two weeks after this sad incident, he started to preach regularly.
He became the senior pastor for Lakewood Church and started getting active inside the Church. Within a short span of time, he managed to get the attendance at the church from 5000 to 43,000, which is a very big accomplishment in itself.
With growth of people visiting the church, they went on to acquire Compaq Center which was previously used by the Houston Rockets of the NBA. This was a big change to the landscape of the church with costs of all renovations and constructions costing a sum around $100 million. With the new center, daily preachings officially started in 2005.
His rise has been incredible as he was described by many as an inspirational author for his hit book “Your Best Life Now”. He has been praised by big personalities including John McCain and Barack Obama. He mentions that one of the reasons for his success is because of his decision to focus more on the goodness of God and on living an obedient life rather than on sin.
However, Osteen has also had to face some controversies over the years. A band called The American Dollar sued Lakewood Church in 2011 over copyright infringement. In early 2017, a family filed a lawsuit against the church over allegations that their 18-month-old daughter suffered injuries following an altercation at the church in May 2014.
Joel Osteen Net Worth
As of 2018, Osteen has an estimated net worth of $60 million. His house alone is worth $10.5 million. This mansion is present in River Oaks which has a massive size of 17,000 square-foot.
He also owns his former home, valued at $2.9 million. His book called Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential was a very big success that was a The New York Times Best Seller for many weeks. His main earnings have been derived from royalties that he collects from the sales of this book.
He went on to release a second book, titled Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day, in October 2007. This book sold 4 million copies and earned him around $13 million in royalties. Formerly he used to reportedly take a $200,000 salary from the church but now he doesn’t take any charge. Lakewood Church has an annual budget of $70 million. He also does radio shows and public speaking around the country which add to his net worth.
Personal Life
Osteen married Lakewood Church co-pastor Victoria Osteen. Together, they have a son and daughter. Their first date was at the church he now pastors with her. When Osteen was first starting out, he actually had a fear of public speaking. He says that he doesn’t like speaking on controversial topics like homosexuality or politics in general.
