Although by now it is evident that extreme wealth for Presidents of the Church was almost axiomatic, there were still differences of degree. The greatest wealth in the period 1914-1972 centered in a father-son combination of direct descent from the founding Mormon family of Smiths. Joseph F. Smith (1918) died with a net worth of $415,180, and in consideration of the shrinking dollar over the century, his wealth was relatively greater than his son’s, Joseph Fielding Smith, which was $509,030 (in liquid assets). Considering that both men were employed in clerical positions when they entered the hierarchy at twenty-six and thirty-three years of age, respectively, their rise to wealth was inseparably connected with the opportunities given them by their positions in the hierarchy. Lower on the scale, but still very substantial was the final wealth of Heber J. Grant (1945), $150,026. Farther down the scale, possibly because advancing age had made it advisable to distribute property to avoid inheritance tax and heirs, were the estates of David O. McKay (1970) at $37,183 and George Albert Smith (1951) at $80,676.

The men who died as counselors in the presidency during this period tended to cluster in wealth, with one exception. Stephen L. Richards (1959) had the highest net worth at death, amounting to $297,204, which reflected his earnest and intricate activity in corporate leadership and investment that had predated his 1917 appointment as an apostle. In a general cluster of wealth were Anthony W. Ivins (1934) at $43,391, Anthon H. Lund (1921) at $33,289, and Charles W. Penrose (1925) at $24,113. The latter two men had indicated greater interest throughout their lives in areas other than business: for Lund it was education, and for Penrose it was journalism. All of them, inevitably, had carried out corporate responsibilities as an extension of their church office. The lowest in the group was Charles W. Nibley (1931), whose $18,831.36 of probated net wealth reflects both the inroads upon his former wealth that losses in his sugar and lumber investments caused, as well as the fact that he had previously put many of his asserts into a family corporation.

Although the Council of Seventh came next to mean wealth, again its internal disparities were massive. At the bottom end were Seymour B. Young (1924) whose estate showed him $1,097 in debt at his death, and Brigham H. Roberts (1933) whose net worth at death was $348. Somewhat better were J. Golden Kimball (1938) at $8,588 and Rulon S. Wells (1941) at $9,446. Like the wealthy members of the nineteenth century council, however, the next plateau rises almost vertically from those of intermediate wealth: Antoine R. Ivins (1967) at $139,059 and Levi Edgar Young exclusively in liquid assets, representing a judicious corporate investment.