The average college professor, or even newsroom editor, doesn't have several billion dollars sitting in his pocket. I've been the former and still am the latter. Never quite hit that income bracket.
Money always has a way of getting the attention of politicians. And anyone with more than $1 billion is going too get attention. The same can be said for smaller churchs, struggling to survive.
And its not just the money. He also owns a large and influencial newspaper. And let's not forget Moon's messages go far beyond what any college professor or newspaper editor I know ever said.