In Japan, a variety of beliefs and churches can be said to thrive immensely, even to the point where there have been news stories of famous actresses joining religious groups to become nuns.
After all, Japan is very lenient in this respect; just establish a religious group, preach some seemingly plausible theories, and you can accept donations from those bewildered followers. This can be much more lucrative than starting a legitimate company.
Lying there and watching the money come in, wouldn't that be delightful?
However, most religious groups merely operate on this level, swindling perhaps a small retirement fund from old men and women in the countryside at best. Those that do somewhat better might have more followers, receive more donations, and perhaps even 'bless' female followers.
Even the most successful religious groups only reach the level where their female followers are celebrities; there's nothing beyond that.