David Miscavige

David Miscavige ( /ˌmɪsˈkævədʒ/ miss-KAV-edge; born April 30, 1960) is the leader of the Church of Scientology and affiliated organizations. His title is Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center (RTC), a corporation that controls the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology.

Miscavige was an assistant to church founder L. Ron Hubbard (a "Commodore's messenger") while a teenager. He rose to a leadership position by the early 1980s and was named Chairman of the Board of RTC in 1987. Official church biographies describe Miscavige as the "the ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion" and celebrate his accomplishments, including obtaining recognition as a tax-favored charity by the US Internal Revenue Service, issuing restored and corrected editions of the works of L. Ron Hubbard and undertaking a program of new or remodeled churches and related facilities.

Since assuming his leadership position, Miscavige has been faced with press accounts alleging illegal and unethical practices, both personally and through his organizational management. These include reports of forced separation of family members, coercive fundraising practices, harassment of journalists and church critics, and public humiliation of church staff members, including physical assaults by Miscavige. Miscavige and church spokespeople have consistently denied these charges, often raising counter-charges that attack the credibility of the journalists and sources responsible for the critical accounts.