Kriti Mehrotra
While not much regarding Robert Shinn’s early years, upbringing, or experiences is known as of writing, we do know he’s an alleged cult leader with a tendency to be incredibly controlling. This much has actually even been explored in Netflix’s ‘Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult,’ a docuseries delving deep into nearly all aspects of his personal and professional practices.
How Did Robert Shinn Earn His Money?
It was reportedly back in 1994 when Robert established Shekinah Church in Santa Ana, California, upon immigrating from Toronto, Canada, just for it to be a tight-knit, invites-only community. The truth is his sister Catherine Yi helped out at first, yet things allegedly changed the moment he was accused of sexual assault by former members around the early 2000s as she left.
According to reports, Robert did hold the titles of pastor as well as Man of God, but his sister was arguably most crucial since she served as the line of connection between him and members. Though he did subsequently manage to make things work, especially in the management of the several other businesses — all in varying industries — he’d managed to launch over the years.
Robert had apparently gradually founded at least a cafe, two flower shops, two mortgage companies, plus two real estate brokerages, and most of their primary employees were church members. This way, per the aforementioned original and official court records, he purportedly spent as little money as possible while also making back a majority of what he dispensed in one way or another. Several former members have since come forward to claim he paid them minimum wages, if that, before managing to rope in the rest through tithes, offerings, gifts, donations, or some expense.
In fact, in 2009, a former member actually sued Robert for exerting “undue influence, mind control, coercive persuasion, oppression, and other intimidating tactics” to get her to donate $3.8 million. She also asserted that he/his disciples (aka the mentors) forced her to do unpaid professional work six days a week, only for him to deny everything and the presiding judge to rule in his favor. In the end, he got to continue his ways, resulting in him even trying to step into the entertainment industry through films before realizing talent management was the most feasible, lucrative path.
Robert thus established 7M Films in 2021, wherein his clients include actors, dancers, models, as well as mucians — they’ve garnered over 10 million followers on social media combined in 3 years. We should mention this firm has since declared itself a completely different entity than Shekinah Church, but it has been indicated that most of the users are already members of its CEO’s sect. Moreover, the pattern of cash flow ostensibly remains the same too; 7M helps them land deals, takes a 20% management fee, and the pastor/the church has them pay rent, tithes, offerings, plus donations until around 60% of their income before taxes is long gone.
Robert Shinn’s Net Worth
The most significant portion of Robert Shinn’s income comes from the brand promotions that the 7M clients are paid for. Keep in mind that many of them, including Miranda Derrick and James “BDash” Derrick, have millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok. With that kind of following, one can easily assume these stars make 250k to 500k per brand endorsement. So, if 7M makes even 20-30 such deals a year for its users, we are looking at an inflow of $10 million, which makes the company’s revenue $6 million, considering its commission fee as well as other charges. This number must have dropped significantly due to the bad publicity it has recently been receiving in the media, yet with its good 24 to 30-month run, its owner-operator likely pocketed close to $10 million in profits.
Apart from 7M, Robert did also run multiple other firms, including mortgage and real estate companies. Then, we also have to assume that his church, which he has been running for three decades now, makes him a significant amount of earnings in gifts, offerings, donations, etc. Plus, while it’s true that it is difficult to place an exact number of how much money this pastor/Man of God as well as CEO has made in his business and with his church over the years, a good conservative estimate would be close to $10 million. Therefore, after taking investments and taxes into account as well, we estimate Robert Shinn’s net worth to be close to $15 million.
Read More: Where is Robert Shinn Now?
