JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA-APRIL 14: Professional Football Player Tim Tebow at the Tim Tebow Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic on April 14, 2012 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo credit: Rob Wilson / Shutterstock)
A new investigation says Tim Tebow's celebrity has helped draw believers into a wealth seminar that left some of them thousands of dollars in debt.
The former NFL quarterback is the recurring keynote at Life Surge, a company that stages roughly 30 one-day events a year mixing worship music, Christian celebrity speakers, and promises of financial transformation, according to Mother Jones. Tickets run as little as $20, but the real money is in what comes next: multi-day "SurgeU" investing courses that cost from roughly $10,000 to $40,000.
The seminars center on what Life Surge calls "kingdom impact," the idea that the more wealth you build, the more good you can do for God. But hundreds of attendees have aired complaints to the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau, and online, describing a high-pressure sales pitch wrapped in scripture.
"I am so devastated that Christians like Tim Tebow made me trust in something that has taken so much money from me," one attendee wrote in an FTC complaint. "This is evil, especially because I'm disabled on a limited income."
One Indiana couple bought a $20,000 course package, then borrowed roughly $40,000 more on interest-free credit cards to have money to invest, only to make nothing in the market and watch the promotional rates balloon to around 29%, according to the report. Another woman said she took a line of credit against her home to fund a $13,000 real estate course and is still paying it off. Attendees said counselors pressed them to sign up on the spot, denying them time to go home and pray on the decision.
Life Surge has denied any wrongdoing, with spokesman Richard Lorenzen saying the company "does not train its representatives to pressure customers into borrowing or taking on debt they cannot afford." He said that enrollment is voluntary and financing comes through third parties. The events also flash on-screen disclaimers warning that customers "could potentially lose money," though Mother Jones reported they appeared too briefly and too small to read easily.
The report traces part of Life Surge's DNA to Online Trading Academy, an investment-education company where several top Life Surge executives once worked. The FTC sued that company for deceiving customers with inflated earnings claims, and it agreed to a settlement that forgave consumer debt and imposed a $362 million judgment, most of it suspended. None of the Life Surge executives were named in that complaint.
A speakers' bureau estimates the biggest names can command up to $100,000 per appearance, and with Tebow on track to headline 20 events this year, Mother Jones estimated his Life Surge earnings at $2 to $4 million. He did not respond to the outlet's request for comment. Life Surge said it does not ask its headline speakers to promote the paid classes. In a 2023 recording obtained by the outlet, Tebow egged the crowd on.
"So I know that many of you today have probably signed up for classes, have probably signed up to take the next step," he said. "I want to encourage you to finish that, to follow through on that commitment, to finish strong."