Demos Shakarian
Demos Shakarian was an Armenian American businessman, founder of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International, and a major behind-the-scenes organizer, funder, and network builder within the mid-twentieth-century healing revival, helping support figures such as William Branham, Oral Roberts, Tommy Hicks, John Osteen, and later Paul Crouch's TBN. Connected by family to the Kardashians and by heritage to Azusa Street revival circles, Shakarian stood at the intersection of Armenian Pentecostal history, the Voice of Healing movement, and the expanding charismatic media empire. His legacy is also marked by controversy, including accusations in the late 1980s that he mishandled FGBMFI funds for personal legal, medical, insurance, travel, and entertainment expenses before being placed on administrative leave and later reinstated.
Demos Shakarian (1913-1993) was an Armenian American businessman from Los Angeles who founded the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (FGBMFI). He was Kardashian Family patriarch Tatos Kardashian's nephew,[1] and was likely involved with the funding and support of Avak Hagopian during the time William Branham worked with Avak and Little David Walker. Demos' grandfather, also named Demos, was involved with the Azusa Street Revival. [2]
Shakarian worked with Charles S. Price to organize, fund, and facilitate evangelistic campaigns for William Branham, Oral Roberts, Tommy Hicks, and others. He also played a key role in working with Paul Crouch to help launch TBN, working to fund Joel Olsteen's father John Olsteen's ministry, and played a key role in helping grow the Voice of Healing Revival.
In 1988, Shakarian was accused by Sarah Branham's attorney, Gerald Lee Walker, of mishandling FGBMFI funds. According to Walker, Shakarian had used Full Gospel Fellowship funds to pay for legal, medical, and insurance bills.[3] That number quickly grew by an additional $276,000, some of which were "travel and entertainment expenses".[4] Shakarian was placed on "administrative leave", but was later reinstated. According to Walker, the reinstatement was a "whitewashing of ... Demos without any documentation. He will have to answer to God and to the IRS, not necessarily in that order.[5]