Thar she blows: The ‘whales’ who are keeping Scientology afloat in 2018

By Tony Ortega | December 3, 2018

[Nancy Cartwright and her daughter Lucy Mae Murphy]

Each October, the whales return to East Grinstead, England in an annual migration that we find absolutely fascinating.

We’re talking, of course, about the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) events that take place each year over an October weekend in England, when Scientology leader David Miscavige gathers his biggest donors to honor them with new “statuses.”

Scientology makes a game out of giving the church huge sums, begging big donors — we call them “whales” — to turn over more and more in the hopes of reaching a new status level, a bigger trophy, and the prospect of being feted at the IAS gala and included in a subsequent issue of Impact magazine.

That issue (#163) just reached us, and we have to say we’re pretty blown away. Although everything we saw from the event itself indicated that the crowds are getting smaller and smaller, Miscavige has more whales than ever turning over huge amounts. It’s one of those wild paradoxes about Scientology: As membership shrinks, big donors have actually increased. There is simply no doubt that membership has dwindled, the church is having a tougher time finding new recruits, and it’s having staffing problems at its existing facilities. Two recent defectors who had access to internal documents tell us worldwide membership is now fewer than 20,000 people.

But the people who remain, many of whom have been members for decades or grew up in the organization, are the truly dedicated. And among them are some pretty wealthy people forking over huge piles of money. This is the longest list of people giving $1 million or more that we’ve ever seen.

It’s really important to keep in mind that these are cumulative amounts. Someone credited for giving $5 million, for example, may have given only a few hundred thousand in recent months that enabled them to get past that plateau. Although, as you’ll see, even Impact magazine is making note of some people who have been turning over prodigious sums in a short amount of time. [For an explanation of how we know what amounts the statuses represent or the estimates we’ve made for some of them, see our methodology here.]

So let’s take a look at all of the cetaceans in this issue, from the biggest whales down to the “Patrons,” who have turned over a cumulative $50,000. If you know something about the people you see, please let us know. We’re always curious to know how these rich Scientologists made their fortunes.

Trish Duggan & Family
Florida, USA
Lifetime Member since 1986

A consummate artist and cultural benefactor, Trish Duggan is a globe-trotting IAS Field Disseminator and Ideal Org Builder without peer. She’s a human rights champion who is dedicated to creating the space for universal human rights, most recently and remarkably in Costa Rica.

[For the third year in a row, Trish is all alone without Bob Duggan after they split in 2015. Also, she’s still on top and the only one who gets to pose with Miscavige himself. But note that there’s no status level listed. Is Trish still “Invictus?” We don’t know. Maybe she’s so far off the charts now they’ve stopped dreaming up names. Our last estimate for what she’s given is some $80 million just to the IAS, and millions more to various expansion projects. Forbes claims that Bob said he had donated more than $360 million in total, but we haven’t seen any other confirmation of that.]

PATRON MAXIMUS [$30 million]

Michael Holstein & Family
Florida, USA
Lifetime Member since 1994

Michael is a Danish entrepreneur and owner of multiple businesses who splits his time between Clearwater and China. He’s dedicated to creating sanity on the Fourth Dynamic through the IAS. His ascent to Patron Maximus is unprecedented, gaining 18 Honor Statuses in eight unbelievable months.

[Translation: Holstein forked over his entire $30 million in donations just this year.]

DIAMOND EXCALIBUR [$25 million]

Tom Cummins & Family
Florida, USA
Lifetime Member since 1985

Tom and family continue their meteoric trailblazing for Scientology expansion, completing six upper echelon IAS levels in the last year alone. FSMs, Field Disseminators and Ideal Org Titans, they are Humanitarians 260 times over on behalf of 30 Ideal Orgs.

[In other words, Cummins has given millions more in fundraising for “Ideal Org” projects. He’s also a fixture at their grand openings. But where is his fashionable wife? Surprising that she couldn’t make this event — she’s usually the one with the most striking outfit each year.]

DIAMOND LAUREATE WITH HONORS [$17.5 million]

Alan & Sheila Atkinson-Baker
California, USA
Lifetime Members since 1988

The Atkinson-Bakers have been ardent supporters of the IAS for 30 years. From psychbusting to IAS Field Dissemination, their unwavering conviction and willingness to defy the MEST universe in support of the IAS make them heroes to the core.

[The Atkinson-Bakers also featured in this unseemly tale of disconnection.]

DIAMOND LAUREATE [$15 million]

Nancy Cartwright & Family

California, USA
Lifetime Members since 1991

Nancy is an American actress whose voice is heard in virtually every home this side of civilization. Her extensive credits include being an International Spokesperson for The Way to Happiness for more than 20 years and being the top contributor to the Valley Ideal Org.

[Nancy is, of course, the voice actor who brings Bart Simpson to life. She’s also the “Grand Governess of the Vast Valley Territory” in her local org. The last time we heard from her as a donor, she had passed the $10 million mark. So this is a pretty big move up, especially for a celebrity. No others, including Tom Cruise, come close to this, at least not in published lists of donors like Impact magazine.]

PLATINUM LAUREATE [$12 million]

Jim Bridgeforth & Family
Florida, USA
Lifetime Member since 2006

Jim and family are upper echelon Humanitarians for 13 Ideal Orgs. Renowned energy drivers, they backed Scientology Media Productions as Legendary Millennium Disseminators, co-hosted epic IAS events in Germany and Clearwater and staged dozens of Freewinds Conquering Life Conventions.

PATRON LAUREATE [$10 million]

Willis & Kyera Pumphrey
New York, USA
Lifetime Members since 1985 & 2005

The Pumphreys are executive staff members of the IAS-sponsored Harlem Ideal Org. Each has introduced thousands to LRH technology; he through the World Literacy Crusade and Applied Scholastics and she as a singer, composer and scriptwriter.

DIAMOND MERITORIOUS [$5 million]

Joyce Gaines & Bruce Ferguson
California, USA
Lifetime Members since 1994

Joyce Gaines and Bruce Ferguson are human rights champions. He is a Youth for Human Rights Field Director with 13 years of experience in India and South Asia. She is a major league psychbuster and veteran Citizens Commission on Human Rights Commissioner.

DIAMOND MERITORIOUS [$5 million]

Marie Arnold & Sandy Gomberg
Las Vegas, USA
Lifetime Members since 1991 & 1990

Sandy and Marie were Criminon Supervisors for seven years and now represent CCHR and United for Human Rights on the Las Vegas OT Committee. They also man every IAS energry drive across their zone and have advanced from Patron to Diamond Meritorious in just 12 mesmerizing months.

[Translation: They forked over $5 million just in the last year.]

DIAMOND MERITORIOUS [$5 million]

Terri & Norm Novitsky

California, USA
Lifetime Members since 1988

Both New OT VIIIs, the Novitskys have been Scientologists for over 40 years. She has been named Power FSM five times. Jointly, they’ve helped to power six Ideal Orgs to fruition, including becoming Gold Humanitarians for the Valley Ideal Org.

DIAMOND MERITORIOUS [$5 million]

Adelheid Rech
Dusseldorf, Germany
Lifetime Member since 1985

Adelheid is Executive Director of Dusseldorf’s Celebrity Centre, where she has “conducted the orchestra” for almost a quarter of a century. She’s also an exuberant IAS energy driver and passionate Ideal Org Builder.

PLATINUM MERITORIOUS WITH HONORS [$3.75 million]

Buz & Claire Taylor
California, USA
Lifetime Members since 1985

The Taylors’ impressive credits include forming the mission that became Philadelphia Org, and Buz is a Founding Member of Citizens Commission on Human Rights. Claire served the LA Org OT Committee for 20 years and is the OT Ambassador In-Charge for Greater Los Angeles.