“We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”
Psalm 78:4
Dear Kingdom Builders,
Patagonia put voting control in a trust. Hershey has a controlling trust. Rolex is controlled by a foundation.
Now Angel Studios wants to follow their example to avoid what its founders believe went wrong at Disney.
And this week, they made a promise revealing the third leg of their high-stakes plan to preserve Angel for generations.
The Disney Dilemma
Angel Studios, the company behind Sound of Freedom and original distributor of The Chosen, has an unlikely inspiration: the company that drove its founders’s business into bankruptcy.
In 2016, Disney led a copyright lawsuit against VidAngel, the Harmons’ previous company. Angel Studios was born out of the bankruptcy that followed.
Yet Neal and Jeff Harmon still call Walt and Roy Disney their heroes. What they don’t admire is what came after them. As Neal put it, they’ve “watched the company’s mission drift after Walt and Roy were gone.”
Jeff Harmon framed the question they’re trying to answer:
“How do we make sure that in 50 years to 100 years this thing doesn't just go off the rails and become Hollywood rather than blazing its own path?”
The Harmons are thinking about who will protect Angel's mission long after they're gone.
Rather than leave Angel’s mission to future executives, they’ve built a three-part system designed to make it last.
First, Define What You're Protecting
On Thursday, Angel announced the Angel Promise, formalizing standards around nudity, profanity, and other content the founders believe conflicts with Angel's mission.
But defining the mission is only the beginning.
Who decides which stories actually reach audiences?
Then, Give the Audience a Vote
At most studios, executives make those decisions.
Angel is known for giving its paying Angel Guild members a direct role in choosing what it produces. Members screen and vote on proposed films and series.
The Promise defines the boundaries. The Guild helps choose the stories.
But neither can guarantee that future executives will preserve those arrangements.
That's where Angel's ownership structure comes in.
Then, Put 101 Million Votes Behind It
In June, the Harmons transferred 10.1 million super-voting shares into the Angel Mission Trust. Each share carries 10 votes.
That's 101.46 million votes, held in a trust intended to protect Angel's mission after its founders are gone.
“Our hope is that this Trust will help Angel's mission last long after we are gone,” Neal said in Angel's July announcement.
The trust includes a professional trustee, an independent enforcer, and a stewardship committee. Angel also amended its corporate charter to help preserve those super-voting rights in qualifying trust arrangements.
That gives the mission something a content policy alone cannot provide: a mechanism for influencing who governs the company.
Now the question is: will it actually survive the founders?
When Founders Are Gone
The Promise defines the standards. The Guild helps select the stories. The Trust is designed to protect both when leadership changes.
It’s a model with real precedent. Rolex has been owned by a foundation for decades, and its identity has outlasted its founder. But precedent isn’t proof. Hershey’s trust once tried to sell the company.
Plenty of companies, like Disney, have mission statements. Angel is trying to preserve its purpose in the cap table.
The real test of a mission-driven business is what happens when the founders no longer control it. Angel has built a solid solution … on paper. Time will tell how well it holds.
Have a blessed week.
Matt
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PODCAST: The Real Burden of Generational Wealth | Kate Gardner
Kate Gardner founded her family office, Kinveris, after unexpectedly inheriting a large sum of money at the age of 21. She uses her story and experience to help other next gens through her organization, Magnify and book/podcast, Becoming Ascendants. In the interview we discuss:
Why she describes inheritance as a “burden of blessing”
How to think through work, purpose, and responsibility
What families can do to better prepare the next generation to steward what they receive
ICYMI: Christian Business & Financial News
A growing movement is turning underused church land into affordable housing, an emerging model that could help address America’s housing shortage while giving churches a new way to generate resources and sustain their ministries.
New Pew data show an intriguing religious uptick among the youngest Gen Z adults: 41% of 18- to 22-year-olds attend services monthly. But researchers caution that broader measures still show little evidence of a widespread American religious revival.
Evangelical financier Edwin Brant Frost IV was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison and ordered to repay more than $75 million after prosecutors said he used Christian and conservative networks to lure roughly 300 investors into a Ponzi scheme.
30-Second Financial Terms and Strategies
A golden share is a special class of stock that gives its holder extraordinary rights over certain corporate decisions.
What it is: A golden share can grant veto or approval rights over specific actions, such as selling the company, changing its purpose, or amending its governing documents.
What it looks like: A founder might place a golden share in a trust, allowing the trust to block certain changes even if other investors own most of the company.
Why it matters: Golden shares are used to protect strategic interests, including blocking unwanted takeovers, preserving national interests in privatized companies, or safeguarding a company's mission. Unlike Angel Studios' super-voting shares, which concentrate voting power, a golden share grants specific veto or approval rights sometimes through a single share, without requiring majority ownership.
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