God CEO
• Faith is Profitable
God applies his famously mysterious ways to capitalist endeavor.
For Azzarelli, it means that God actually makes key management decisions at the company. He says God told him in 2000 to launch a new pipeline-construction company in Charlotte. Azzarelli obeyed, but the new venture did not prosper.
"I dumped $400,000 in there, and it kept losing money," he recalls. God, he says, went silent.
Two years later, ready to close down the Charlotte operation, Azzarelli prayed hard for direction. Driving his Cadillac SUV past the University of South Florida campus one day, he lost patience.
"I started yelling, 'God, I haven't heard from you in months! What do you want me to do with this company in North Carolina?' I hadn't gone a block and a half, and this impression that came over me was so great: Give it away."
Azzarelli and his wife turned over 70% of the Charlotte business to the manager who was running it. Last year the company earned $140,000 on sales of $2.5 million. The Azzarellis then gave away the remaining 30% ownership stake.
God's network: How Christian business owners help each other get rich and go to heaven.