What was Billy Graham net worth when he died?

He is not with us anymore but a lot more people are increasingly becoming interested in Billy Graham net worth before he passed away after doing the Lord’s work on earth.

In this day and age, Men of God are often seen leading luxurious lifestyles and that has become an issue for many people as they wonder how these pastors make such much money, so it is no surprise that even after his passing, people still want to know Billy Graham net worth before he passed away in 2018 at the age of 99.

Before we delve into Billy Graham’s net worth, let us talk about who he was.

Who was Billy Graham?

Billy Graham Net Worth
Billy Graham | Source: | Celebrity Net Worth

Billy Graham was an American evangelist, a prominent evangelical Christian figure, and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s.

He was born William Franklin Graham Jr. on November 7, 1918, and he passed away on February 21, 2018, at the age of 99.

As a preacher, Billy Graham held large indoor and outdoor rallies with sermons that were broadcast on radio and television; some were still being re-broadcast into the 21st century.

In his six decades on television, Graham hosted annual “Crusades”, evangelistic campaigns that ran from 1947 until his retirement in 2005.

He also hosted the radio show Hour of Decision from 1950 to 1954.

Graham’s influence earned him the honor of serving as a spiritual adviser to U.S. presidents, and he provided spiritual counsel for every president from Harry S. Truman (33rd) to Barack Obama (44th).

He was particularly close to Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon.

He was also lifelong friends with another televangelist, the founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, Robert Schuller, whom Graham talked into starting his own television ministry.

Billy Graham educational background

Billy Graham net worth
Billy Graham | Source: Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Billy Graham attended Sharon High School and graduated from there in May 1936.

Graham proceeded to Bob Jones College and after one semester, he found that the coursework and rules were too legalistic.

At this time he was influenced and inspired by Pastor Charley Young from Eastport Bible Church.

He was almost expelled, but Bob Jones Sr. warned him not to throw his life away: “At best, all you could amount to would be a poor country Baptist preacher somewhere out in the sticks … You have a voice that pulls. God can use that voice of yours. He can use it mightily.”

Billy Graham ministry career

After college Billy served as a pastor for a number of churches around the country.

He was the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Western Springs, Illinois from 1943-1944.

He launched a radio program in 1945 called Songs in the Night.

In 1948, at age 29, he became the president of Northwestern Bible College in Minneapolis and helped the position until he resigned in 1952.

In 1949, he held his now-famous crusades, or revival meetings, in Los Angeles for which he erected circus tents in a parking lot.

The crusades attracted much national media coverage and ran for eight weeks.

In 1950 he founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Billy Graham personal life

Billy Graham net worth
Billy and his wife | source: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

He married his wife Ruth in 1943 and they remained together until her death in 2007.

They had been married for nearly 64 years.

Graham was notorious for never spending time alone with any woman other than his wife-this became known as the “Billy Graham Rule.” Ruth and Billy had five children together, 19 grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.

Billy Graham death

At the age of 91, in 2010, Graham began experiencing substation vision, hearing, and balance loss.

Billy Graham died of natural causes on February 21, 2018, at the age of 99, at his home in Montreat, North Carolina.

He became the fourth private citizen in U.S. history to lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C., and the first religious leader to have been bestowed the honor.

A private funeral service was held on March 2, 2018. Graham was buried beside his wife in the prayer garden at the Billy Graham Library.

His pine plywood casket, topped with a wooden cross nailed to it, had been handcrafted in 2006 by convicted murderers at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, which had been ordered after his son Franklin Graham saw the prisoners hard at work during a tour of the facility.

Billy Graham awards

Billy Graham net worth
Billy being honored | Source: WTOP

Billy was a hardworking Man of God whose work earned him a lot of awards and honors.

Graham was frequently honored by surveys, including “Greatest Living American” and consistently ranked among the most admired persons in the United States and the world.

He appeared most frequently on Gallup’s list of most admired people.

On the day of his death, Graham had been on Gallup’s Top 10 “Most Admired Man” list 61 times and held the highest rank of any person since the list began in 1948

Some of the awards and honors he has received include:

  • The Salvation Army’s Distinguished Service Medal.
  • Who’s Who in America listing annually since 1954.
  • Freedoms Foundation Distinguished Persons Award (several years)
  • Gold Medal Award, National Institute of Social Science, New York, 1957.
  • Annual Gutenberg Award of the Chicago Bible Society, 1962.
  • Gold Award of the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute, 1964, for contribution to race relations, presented by Senator Javits (NY).
  • Speaker of the Year Award, awarded by Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha, 1965.
  • The American Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award, 1965.
  • Horatio Alger Award, 1965.
  • National Citizenship Award by the Military Chaplains Association of the United States of America, 1965.
  • Wisdom Award of Honor, 1965.
  • The Torch of Liberty Plaque by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, 1969.
  • George Washington Honor Medal from Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, for his sermon “The Violent Society”, 1969 (also in 1974)
  • Honored by Morality in Media for “fostering the principles of truth, taste, inspiration, and love in media”, 1969.
  • International Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, 1971.
  • Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Broadcasters, 1972.
  • Franciscan International Award, 1972.
  • Sylvanus Thayer Award from the United States Military Academy Association of Graduates at West Point (The most prestigious award the United States Military Academy gives to a US citizen), 1972.
  • Direct Selling Association’s Salesman of the Decade award, 1975.
  • Philip Award from the Association of United Methodist Evangelists, 1976.
  • American Jewish Committee’s First National Interreligious Award, 1977.
  • Southern Baptist Radio and Television Commission’s Distinguished Communications Medal, 1977.
  • Jabotinsky Centennial Medal presented by The Jabotinsky Foundation, 1980.
  • Religious Broadcasting Hall of Fame award, 1981.
  • Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion award, 1982.
  • Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, 1983.
  • National Religious Broadcasters Award of Merit, 1986.
  • North Carolina Award in Public Service, 1986.
  • Good Housekeeping Most Admired Men Poll, 1997, No. 1 for five years in a row and 16th time in top 10.
  • Congressional Gold Medal (along with wife Ruth), the highest honor Congress can bestow on a private citizen, 1996.
  • Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award, for monumental and lasting contributions to the cause of freedom, 2000.
  • Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for his international contribution to civic and religious life over 60 years, 2001.
  • Many honorary degrees including the University of Northwestern – St. Paul, Minnesota, where Graham was once president, named its newest campus building the Billy Graham Community Life Commons.
  • He also received honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees.

Billy Graham net worth

The focus of this article was to look at Billy Graham net worth, but rather than just put Billy Graham’s net worth there and move on, we brought you a comprehensive article about Bily Graham.

Now is the time we shift our focus to Billy Graham net worth at the time of his death.

You would reckon that Billy Graham net worth would have been even higher than what you are about to see if he was still alive.

According to celebritynetworth.com, Billy Graham net worth was estimated at $25 Million at the time of his passing in February 2018.

Watch one of Billy Graham’s popular sermons below:

Source: GhBase.com

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