Televangelist Who's Asking His Followers to Help Fund a $54 Million Private Jet

A Louisiana preacher is making headlines for asking his followers to help fund an extravagant purchase: a $54 million private jet.

Jesse Duplantis, a 68-year-old prosperity gospel preacher, says a new Dassault Falcon 7X would allow him to spread his teachings more effectively.

“Now some people believe that preachers shouldn’t have jets. I really believe that preachers ought to go on every available voice, every available outlet, to get this gospel preached to the world,” Duplantis said in a video posted online last week, according to The Christian Post.

It wouldn’t be the first jet Duplantis has owned. In the video, Duplantis looked over a wall full of photos showing his other private planes and said they have helped him preach the word of God. “You know I’ve owned three different jets in my life and used them and used them and just burning them up for the Lord,” he said.

Duplantis reportedly lives in a 35,000-square-foot plantation home built in the late ’00s at a cost of $3 million. His net worth has been estimated at $50 million.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Duplantis performed in the 1970s under the stage name Jerry Jaxon with the rock band Summer Wine. “I drank a fifth of whisky a day, smoked a little dope a week, snorted cocaine, PCP, crystal meth, took trips and never left my house,” Duplantis said in one interview.

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http://time.com/money/5293979/jesse-duplantis-televangelist-private-jet/