The Salvation Army's $4 Billion Real Estate Bonanza

Like many others, most years I give a small donation to the Salvation Army, often in the form of clothing. Little did I know, however, that the organization that runs the ubiquitous thrift shops is a real estate powerhouse, and should probably be donating money to me each Christmas! In fact, reports the Los Angeles Times, the Salvation Army's U.S. real estate holdings came to about $4 billion as late as 2008 -- and that's only about a third of its real estate assets scattered around the globe.

Four billion dollars can buy a hell of a lot of those red-kettles folks toss money into on street corners.