36. Sai Baba Earnings Go Up To $9 Billion
Indian guru and philanthropist Sathya Narayana Raju claimed to be the reincarnation of master Sai Baba of Shirdi. Seen by his followers in over 170 countries as omnipotent and omniscient, Baba reached both fame and controversy through his materialisations of vibhuti (holy ash) and other small objects such as rings and necklaces, miraculous healings, resurrections, clairvoyance, and bilocation, which for his devotees were considered signs of the teacher’s divinity while for sceptics were simple conjuring tricks. Sai Baba founded several schools, colleges, hospitals, ashrams, spiritual centers and other charitable institutions in India and throughout the world, amassing a fortune of over $9 billion. In 1995 UK’s channel 4 TV documentary Guru Busters accused Baba of faking his materializations and on multiple occasions, he faced charges for sexual abuse, fraud, sleight of hand, money laundering, and murder, all of which he dismissed as false. In 2002 the Parliament of the United Kingdom discussed the danger to male children of British families intending to visit the ashram of Sathya Sai Baba.
