Is Sadhguru’s Isha Yoga a Billion-Dollar Spiritual Empire?

Sadhguru’s Isha is sitting on over $100 million in cash—yet still wants 7% of his followers’ income.

I’m Be Scofield, founder of The Guru Magazine and the journalist behind the hit HBO series on the Love Has Won cult. I’ve spent a decade reporting on spiritual power, abuse, and the machinery that protects it. My investigations have been cited by The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, People, VICE, Netflix, Dr. Phil, Dateline, and more. I’m the author of the new book The Savior Complex: How Jesus Became the World’s Ultimate Influencer.

---

Isha Foundation Inc., Sadhguru’s U.S. nonprofit branch, reported $190.6 million in assets at the end of 2024 — up from $57.5 million in 2020. If its recent growth continued, the American organization is now likely worth more than $200 million. It also held nearly $60 million in cash at the end of 2024—profiting $30 million that year alone. If that cash-growth pattern continues, its cash reserves could approach $120 million by the end of 2026.

And that is only the U.S.; the India branch dwarfs the American by three or four times.

Isha began in India in the early 1990s. Its Coimbatore headquarters, Isha Yoga Center, ashram, and Adiyogi complex have become major pilgrimage and tourism hubs. As many as 8 million people reportedly visit the center and Adiyogi complex each year—a number that drastically outsizes Isha’s U.S. activities. Its annual Mahashivratri celebration draws crowds in the hundreds of thousands, with official reserved seating tiers ranging from about $5 to $525.

Given the massive scale of Isha’s India operation, the U.S. branch may represent only a fraction of Sadhguru’s global enterprise. With dozens of Isha entities and centers around the world, paid programs, expensive spiritual merchandise, and Sadhguru’s personal wealth, the worldwide Isha ecosystem could plausibly be worth close to $1 billion.

But the public has no consolidated balance sheet for Sadhguru’s empire. In the United States, nonprofits like the Isha Foundation have to file public Form 990 tax returns—in India, such disclosure is not required. Sadhguru, widely marketed as a humanitarian and spiritual leader, has not publicly released the value of Isha worldwide or his personal net worth.

What we do know is how much of this empire was built by unpaid labor.

Sadhguru created Isha largely by convincing idealistic followers that working for him was service to the cosmic mission of “raising human consciousness.” Isha says it has 4,600 full-time volunteers, and its website has boasted of 18 million volunteers worldwide. “We worked for no money every single day,” a former staff member named Drew told me. Sadhguru had convinced his followers that if they worked for him, they were saving the world.

In 2024, only about 5 percent of Isha’s U.S. revenue was distributed as grants: $2.56 million in foreign grants and just $21,499 in domestic grants. And even “grants” is opaque. The filing does not clearly show whether that money went to direct charity, Isha-linked entities, or some other purpose. It is also unclear what percentage of Isha’s India-side or global revenue goes to conventional charitable aid.

And despite Isha’s immense reserves, Sadhguru continues to ask followers for more.

One of the clearest examples is Ishanga, Isha’s tithe-like program, where followers give 7 percent of their annual income to Isha. Sadhguru heavily pushes this initiative. In a remarkable video on the Ishanga page titled “Establish a Bond of Grace with Sadhguru,” he tells followers that living with 7 percent less income will actually help their spiritual growth.

“This is not about me taking your 7%,” he says. “Do I look so incompetent that I have to sit and collect 7% tax from you? I’m not made like that. If I want, I will make what I want.”

Then he explains the real purpose of the tithe: spiritual transformation.

“If you reduce it at least by 7%, we can do something else with you,” he says. “This is a simple device for you to breach the boundary of what is me and what is mine… to breach the boundaries of who you are so that something far bigger than you becomes a part of your life.”

This is a form of spiritualized extraction—give up your money, and the master’s grace enters your life. Keep it, and you remain trapped in the small world of “me” and “mine.”

The dynamic is reminiscent of the Mormon Church, which built vast wealth while requiring members to tithe 10 percent of their income. In 2023, the SEC fined the church and its investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisers, $5 million after finding that they used shell companies to obscure a stock portfolio that had grown to about $32 billion by 2018. Later reporting and whistleblower allegations suggested the church’s total reserves may exceed $100 billion.

For many former and questioning Mormons, the scandal was that everyday believers had been urged to sacrifice income and savings while leaders quietly accumulated vast tax-exempt wealth.

Isha now faces the same question.

Sadhguru’s organization has over $100 million in cash and may be worth $1 billion in total, but he really needs 7% of the incomes of his ordinary followers. What is all this money being used for? And do the followers know?

He tells a group of followers that with 7% less income, they will be better able to achieve spiritual growth.

Isha highlights charitable projects it has started or inspired—rural schools, tree planting, soil campaigns, river campaigns, and rural health care. But these projects appear to operate through their own ecosystems: separate entities, staff, budgets, donation portals, corporate sponsors, government partnerships, and volunteer networks. Isha’s rural healthcare or mobile health clinic page thanks corporate donors including Hero FinCorp, New India Assurance, and CG Power and Industrial Solutions Limited.

Sadhguru’s organization has over $100 million in cash but he really needs 7% of the incomes of his ordinary followers

As noted, Isha U.S. alone profited $30 million in 2024, with only $2.56 million given in the opaque category of “grants.” That’s only 5%—and it’s unclear if these are even charitable givings.

A guru-led organization can receive the reputational benefits of charity without funding those projects from its own reserves. Sadhguru can point to schools and trees or soil campaigns as proof of Isha’s public service, while the funding comes from separate donors, corporations, or even government programs. It doesn’t mean that Sadhguru or Isha funds these charitable operations.

Selling the Divine

Donations and tithing are a significant percentage of Isha’s millions—but Sadhguru also sells divine merchandise.

He sells access to the divine feminine in the form of the Bhairavi Mukha, a 20-inch copper plate for $3,333. It is “an overpowering presence of the divine feminine,” the sales page states. “It’s an opportunity for every devotee to connect with Devi through this powerful form and experience her Grace.”

Former followers of Sadhguru report buying $18,000 yantras sold by Sadhguru. They supposedly act “like antennas to the main source of energy, which is the main temple in the India ashram,” a former monk told me. “The Sannidhi has a miraculous impact on the internal and external well-being of all who come within its sphere,” Sadhguru claims.

The special Avingha Yantra pricing is $1,100 when you sign up for the Avingha Yantra Sadhana weekend for $8,600. “The Avighna Yantra creates a powerful presence of Devi and consecrates the home or office, enabling all to bask in her Grace,” his site states. “The [Avingha] sadhana helps to lubricate your actions with Devi’s Grace, so that you can enhance your business and personal or spiritual life to its full potential.”

The real sales gimmick is “consecrated” products—things that either Sadhguru or the gods bless.

A small consecrated gold pendant costs $1,777. Other consecrated pendants range from $199 to $1,555. He also sells a consecrated Rudraksha bead for $395. You can purchase them elsewhere for $1 to $50. A gold snake ring will set you back as much as $1,900. “This consecrated gold snake ring brings stability to the body and foundational support for your sadhana,” the page states. “Simple yet profoundly effective, it’s your companion for opening to higher possibilities.” The “Ambiance of Grace” gift set, consisting of a small oil lamp and a mini Dhyanalinga Yantra, costs $444.

Sadhguru also sells a 2.5 ft tall “consecrated” aluminum statue of Adiyogi for $10,000. “Each statue is consecrated to create a certain reverberation in your home or office,” the sales page states. “The statue will be a powerful reminder of the higher possibilities within a human being and orient oneself towards that goal.”

He also sells shampoo, incense, herbal jams, skincare products, backpacks, bangles, and bracelets.

There’s more. Sadhguru also sells photos of his feet.

In October 2024, Sadhguru attracted criticism for selling photos of his feet for $100. The sales page says the photo is “a powerful medium to strengthen your connection with Sadhguru.” He also sells impressions of his feet for $1000. "Bring Sadhguru’s presence home with a Sadhguru Sannidhi pada yantra," Isha Foundation stated in an Instagram post. The 2 ft x 2 ft yantras are crafted from stone, brass, or mercury and have impressions of his feet on them. The yantra "creates a powerful energy within one’s home that significantly enhances one’s progress on the spiritual path," according to Sadhguru.

To travel with him on the 13-day Kailash sojourn to the Himalayas, it costs $58,000 US dollars. Other trips range from $3,000 to $7,000 but only include a one-time meeting with Sadhguru. Isha's annual Mahashivratri festival brings in tens of millions of dollars. Some spend thousands on tickets to the 4-day festival, which sees an in-person attendance of hundreds of thousands. Millions tune into the livestream.

A Religious “Nonprofit”

Public tax records show Sadhguru has built a massive spiritual empire through tax-exempt donations, paid programs, expensive spiritual merchandise, and millions of hours of unpaid labor. The U.S. wing alone reported nearly $100 million in land, buildings, and equipment—up from about $22 million in 2020. Globally, Isha and Sadhguru’s ecosystem could plausibly be worth close to $1 billion when its Indian ashram, Adiyogi complex, real estate, international centers, his net worth, and related entities are taken into account.

With this amount of wealth, why are the people running Isha still working for free? And why is Sadhguru still asking ordinary followers to give 7 percent of their income?

Despite being lauded as a humanitarian leader, Sadhguru has never publicly released a consolidated accounting of how much Isha is worth worldwide or how much of its wealth actually funds charity. Isha points to charitable programs, but separate donors fund them. While Isha enjoys a humanitarian halo, the public remains in the dark about the full checkbook.

What the filings do show is that Sadhguru appears far more invested in building a “yogic” city in Tennessee than in operating a conventional charity. For years, Isha has been expanding its McMinnville center with new buildings, apartments, studios, retreat infrastructure, and land. He envisions tens of thousands living there. It’s clear he’s interested in building institutional power—not proper charity.

If Sadhguru avoided heavily pushing a 7 percent tithe, soliciting donations worldwide, relying on unpaid labor, and marketing himself as a humanitarian, perhaps there would be less reason for scrutiny. But when a guru-led nonprofit accumulates hundreds of millions in visible and probable assets while asking followers to surrender income and labor in the name of grace, scrutiny is warranted. The valid question is who funds Isha’s charitable projects and how much do they contribute to them? How much have they profited while still asking followers for significant contributions and basking in the public perception of being humanitarian?

What this investigation reveals is a troubling loophole in the nonprofit world: a religious or spiritual organization can raise enormous sums in the name of public charity while retaining most of the money for its own power and expansion.

---

READ THE SERIES:

• Part I: Inside Sadhguru’s Cult Empire

• Part II: Unmasking Sadhguru’s Legacy of Abuse

• What Happened to Sadhguru’s Wife? - Did Sadhguru’s wife die from enlightenment, as he claims, or was it foul play?

• Why Sadhguru Never Mentions His Yoga Teacher - Sadhguru studied with a yoga teacher for years in the 1980s, rebranded his system as his own, and never gave credit.