Amway is a
direct sellingDirect selling is the marketing and selling of products directly to consumers away from a fixed retail location. Peddling is the oldest form of direct selling. Modern direct selling includes sales made through the party plan, one-on-one demonstrations, and other personal contact arrangements as...
company and manufacturer that uses network marketing to sell a variety of products, primarily in the health, beauty, and home care markets. Amway was founded in 1959 by
Jay Van AndelJay Van Andel was an American businessman best known as co-founder of the Amway Corporation, along with Richard DeVos. He also served as Chairman of the U.S...
and
Richard DeVosRichard DeVos, Sr. is an American businessman, co-founder of Amway along with Jay Van Andel , and owner of the Orlando Magic NBA basketball team...
. Based in Ada, Michigan, the company and family of companies under
AlticorAlticor is a privately held corporation, owned and run by members of the DeVos and Van Andel families. It was established in 1999 to serve as the parent company for a handful of business ventures, most notably the direct selling company Amway and Quixtar and a manufacturing and distribution...
reported sales growth of 9.5%, reaching US$9.2 billion for the year ending December 31, 2010. Its product lines include home care products, personal care products, jewelry, electronics,
NutriliteNutrilite is a brand of mineral, vitamin, and dietary supplements created in 1934 by Dr. Carl F. Rehnborg. Nutrilite products are currently manufactured by Access Business Group, a subsidiary of Alticor whose products are sold via the Amway and Amway Global Corporations worldwide...
dietary supplements, water purifiers, air purifiers, insurance and cosmetics. In 2004, Health & Beauty products accounted for nearly 60% of worldwide sales. Amway conducts business through a number of affiliated companies in more than a hundred countries and territories around the world. Amway was ranked No.114 among the largest global retailers by Deloitte in 2006, and No.32 among the largest private companies in the U.S. by
ForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
in 2010.
Amway's business practices have been the subject of controversy and the company has been involved in several court cases in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere.
Founding
Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos, friends since school days, had been business partners in various endeavors including a hamburger stand, air charter service, and a sailing business. In 1949 they were introduced by Neil Maaskant (Van Andel's second cousin) to the
Nutrilite Products Corporation.
NutriliteNutrilite is a brand of mineral, vitamin, and dietary supplements created in 1934 by Dr. Carl F. Rehnborg. Nutrilite products are currently manufactured by Access Business Group, a subsidiary of Alticor whose products are sold via the Amway and Amway Global Corporations worldwide...
was a California-based direct sales company founded by Dr. Carl Rhenborg, developer of the first
multivitaminA multivitamin is a preparation intended to supplement a human diet with vitamins, dietary minerals, and other nutritional elements. Such preparations are available in the form of tablets, capsules, pastilles, powders, liquids, and injectable formulations...
marketed in the United States. In August 1949, after a night-long talk, DeVos and Van Andel signed up to become distributors for Nutrilite food supplements. They sold their first box the next day for $19.50, but lost interest for the next two weeks. Shortly thereafter, at the urging of Maaskant, who had become their
sponsor, they traveled to Chicago to attend a Nutrilite seminar. The meeting was at a downtown hotel, with over a hundred people in attendance. After seeing promotional filmstrips and listening to talks by company representatives and successful distributors, they decided to pursue the Nutrilite business opportunity with enthusiasm. They sold their second box of supplements on their return trip to Michigan, and rapidly proceeded to develop their new business further.
In 1949, DeVos and Van Andel had formed
Ja-Ri Corporation (abbreviated from their respective first names) for importing wooden goods from South American countries. After their trip to the Nutrilite seminar, they dropped this business and Ja-Ri became their Nutrilite distributorship. In addition to profits on each product sold, Nutrilite also offered commission on the sales of products by new distributors introduced to the company by existing distributors—a system today known as
multi-level marketingMulti-level marketing is a marketing strategy in which the sales force is compensated not only for sales they personally generate, but also for the sales of others they recruit, creating a downline of distributors and a hierarchy of multiple levels of compensation...
or network marketing. By 1958, DeVos and Van Andel had built an organization of over 5,000 distributors. However, following concerns about the stability of Nutrilite, in April 1959 they and some of their top distributors formed
The American Way Association to represent the distributors and look for additional products to market.
Their first product was called
Frisk, a concentrated organic cleaner developed by a scientist in Ohio. DeVos and Van Andel bought the rights to manufacture and distribute Frisk, and later changed the name to LOC (Liquid Organic Concentrate). They subsequently formed
Amway Sales Corporation to procure and inventory products and to handle the sales and marketing plan, and
Amway Services Corporation to handle insurance and other benefits for distributors (Amway being an abbreviation of "American Way"). In 1960 they purchased a 50% share in
Atco Manufacturing Company in Detroit, the original manufacturers of LOC, and changed its name to
Amway Manufacturing Corporation. In 1964 the Amway Sales Corporation, Amway Services Corporation, and Amway Manufacturing Corporation merged to form a single entity,
Amway Corporation Amway bought control of Nutrilite in 1972 and full ownership in 1994.
International expansion
Amway expanded overseas to Australia in 1971, to Europe in 1973, to parts of Asia in 1974, to Japan in 1979, to Latin America in 1985, to China in 1995, to Africa in 1997, to India and Scandinavia in 1998, to Russia in 2005, and to Vietnam in 2008.
Quixtar
In 1999 the founders of the Amway corporation established a new holding company, named
AlticorAlticor is a privately held corporation, owned and run by members of the DeVos and Van Andel families. It was established in 1999 to serve as the parent company for a handful of business ventures, most notably the direct selling company Amway and Quixtar and a manufacturing and distribution...
, and launched three new companies: a sister (and separate) Internet-focused company named
QuixtarAmway Global is a multi-level marketing or network marketing company, founded 1959 in Ada, Michigan, United States...
, Access Business Group, and Pyxis Innovations. Pyxis, later replaced by Fulton Innovation, pursued research and development and Access Business Group handled manufacturing and logistics for Amway, Quixtar, and third party clients.
The main difference was that all "Independent Business Owners" (IBO) could order directly from Amway on the internet, rather than from their upline "direct distributor", and have products shipped directly to their home. The Amway name continued being used in the rest of the world. After virtually all Amway distributors in North America switched to Quixtar, Alticor elected to close Amway North America after 2001. In June 2007 it was announced that the Quixtar brand would be phased out over an 18 to 24 month period in favor of a unified Amway brand (Amway Global) worldwide.
In 2006, Quixtar published
The Quixtar Independent Business Owner Compensation Plan, in which the company reported that the average monthly gross income for "Active" IBOs was $115.
Global markets
According to the Amway website, as of 2011 the company operates in over 80 countries and territories, organized into regional markets: the Americas, Europe, greater China, Japan and Korea, and SE Asia/Australia.
In 2008, Alticor announced that two-thirds of the company's 58 markets reported sales increases, including strong growth in the China, Russia and India markets.
Amway China
Amway grew quickly in China from its market launch in 1995. In 1998, after abuses of illegal pyramid schemes led to riots, the Chinese government enacted a ban on all
direct sellingDirect selling is the marketing and selling of products directly to consumers away from a fixed retail location. Peddling is the oldest form of direct selling. Modern direct selling includes sales made through the party plan, one-on-one demonstrations, and other personal contact arrangements as...
companies, including Amway. After negotiations, some companies like Amway, Avon, and
Mary KayMary Kay, Inc. is a privately held company that sells skin care and cosmetics products. Mary Kay World Headquarters is located in Addison, Texas, United States, a Dallas suburb. Mary Kay Ash founded Mary Kay Inc. on Friday, September 13, 1963...
continued to operate through a network of retail stores promoted by an independent sales force. China introduced new direct selling laws in December 2005, and in December 2006 Amway was one of the first companies to receive a license to resume direct sales. However, the law forbids teachers, doctors, and civil servants from becoming direct sales agents for the company and, unlike in the U.S., salespeople in China are ineligible to receive commissions from sales made by the distributors they recruit.
In 2006, Amway China had a reported 180,000 sales representatives, 140 stores, and $2 billion in annual sales. In 2007 Amway Greater China and South-east Asia Chief Executive Eva Cheng was ranked No.88 by Forbes magazine in its list of the World's Most Powerful Women. In 2008, China was Amway's largest market, reporting 28% growth and sales of ¥17 billion (US$2.5billion). According to a report in Bloomberg Businessweek in April 2010, Amway had 237 retail shops in China, 160,000 direct sales agents, and US$3 billion in revenue.
Brands
Amway's product line grew from LOC, with the laundry detergent SA8 added in 1960, and later the hair care product Satinique (1965) and the cosmetics line
ArtistryArtistry is a brand of skin care and colour cosmetics, produced by Access Business Group and marketed by Amway in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. Access, Quixtar, and Amway are part of the Alticor group of companies...
(1968). Today Amway manufactures over 450 products, with manufacturing facilities in China, India and the United States, as well as Nutrilite organic farms in
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Mexico and the United States (California and Washington State).
Household cleaners
Amway is best known in North America for its original multi-purpose cleaning product LOC,
SA8SA8 may refer to:* SA-8 Gecko, the NATO reporting name for the 9K33 Osa surface to air missile system* SA8 is also the brand name for the laundry detergent sold by Amway...
laundry detergent, and Dish Drops dishwashing liquid. In the January 2007 issue of
Consumer ReportsConsumer Reports is an American magazine published monthly by Consumers Union since 1936. It publishes reviews and comparisons of consumer products and services based on reporting and results from its in-house testing laboratory. It also publishes cleaning and general buying guides...
, SA8 with Bioquest was rated the best-performing laundry detergent, scoring 99 out of a possible 100 points. Consumer Reports did, however, criticise SA8's pricing, a situation which was disputed by Amway. Consumer Reports conducted blind testing of detergents in 2010 and ranked versions of Amway's Legacy of Clean detergents 9th and 18th of 20 detergents tested. Consumer Reports program manager Pat Slaven recommended against buying the products because consumers can "go to the grocery store and get something that performs a whole lot better for a whole lot less money."
Health and beauty
Amway's health and beauty brands include Artistry, Beautycycle, Time Defiance, Artistry Essentials, Pure White, Satinique, Tolsom, Body Series, Glister,
Moiskin (South America),
NutriliteNutrilite is a brand of mineral, vitamin, and dietary supplements created in 1934 by Dr. Carl F. Rehnborg. Nutrilite products are currently manufactured by Access Business Group, a subsidiary of Alticor whose products are sold via the Amway and Amway Global Corporations worldwide...
,
Nutriway (Scandinavia and Australia/New Zealand), eSpring,
Atmosphere and
iCook as well as
XL and XS Energy drinks.
Artistry
Amway's Artistry products include skin care, cosmetics, and anti-aging creams and serums.
Nutrilite
Amway's largest selling brand is the
NutriliteNutrilite is a brand of mineral, vitamin, and dietary supplements created in 1934 by Dr. Carl F. Rehnborg. Nutrilite products are currently manufactured by Access Business Group, a subsidiary of Alticor whose products are sold via the Amway and Amway Global Corporations worldwide...
range of health supplements (marketed as Nutriway in some countries), and in 2008 Nutrilite sales exceeded US$3billion globally. In 2001, five Nutrilite products were the first dietary supplements to be certified by
NSF InternationalNSF International is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based not-for-profit public health and environmental organization that provides standards development, product certification, auditing, education and risk management services.-History:...
. Surveys by independent group
Consumerlab.comConsumerLab.com is a provider of independent test results and information to help consumers and healthcare professionals evaluate health, wellness, and nutrition products. ConsumerLab.com was founded in 1999. It is subscription fee based....
since 2002 have rated Nutrilite as having the highest customer satisfaction rating (96% in 2006) in the direct selling/MLM brand category. In 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 in the nutrient and health food category, Nutrilite won "Platinum" and "Gold" awards in Malaysia, China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Asia overall in the Reader's Digest "Trusted Brands of Asia" survey. In 2008 Nutrilite scientists, in partnership with Alticor subsidiary Interleukin Genetics won the 12th
John M. Kinney Award for Nutrition and Metabolism for their research into the interaction between nutrition and genetics. In January 2009, Amway announced a voluntary recall of Nutrilite and XS Energy Bars after learning that they had possibly been manufactured with
SalmonellaSalmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...
-contaminated ingredients from
Peanut Corporation of AmericaPeanut Corporation of America was a peanut-processing business founded in 1977 and headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia. The company was forced out of business after being found to be the source of a massive salmonella outbreak in the United States during 2008 and 2009.PCA operated processing...
. The company indicated that it had not received any reports of illness in connection with the products.
eSpring
Amway's eSpring water filter, introduced in 2000, was the first home water treatment system to incorporate a carbon block filter and Ultraviolet disinfection unit, becoming the first home system to achieve certification for ANSI/NSF Standards 42, 53 and 55. The unit was also the first commercial product to include sister company Fulton Innovations
eCoupledeCoupled is a proprietary near-field wireless energy transfer technology developed by Fulton Innovation, a division of Alticor. It provides wireless power transfer via inductive coupling between a primary transmission coil and a secondary receiving coil...
wireless power induction technology. Fulton Innovation introduced the technology in other consumer electronic products at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show. Companies licensing this technology include
General MotorsGeneral Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
,
MotorolaMotorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
and Visteon. In 2006 eSpring was named
Product of the Year by the Poland-based non-profit
World Foundation of Health, Heart and Mind. eSpring has won numerous
Gold and
Platinum awards in the
Reader's Digest Most Trusted Brand Asia surveys.
Atmosphere
In 2008 Amway's Atmosphere Air Purifier became the first air cleaner certified
Asthma and Allergy FriendlyAsthma & Allergy Friendly is a registered certification mark operated by Allergy Standards Limited in association with not-for-profit asthma and/or allergy organizations, labeling products which have been put through and have passed standardised testing....
by the
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of AmericaThe Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for and controlling asthma, food allergies, nasal allergies and other allergic diseases. AAFA's mission is also to educate the public about these diseases...
.
Ditto Delivery
Amway owns a patent on the online shopping method of Ditto Delivery, which allows consumers to specify an automatic monthly delivery of each product. In May 2001, Ditto Delivery accounted for 30% of Quixtar's North American sales.
Business model
Amway combines
direct sellingDirect selling is the marketing and selling of products directly to consumers away from a fixed retail location. Peddling is the oldest form of direct selling. Modern direct selling includes sales made through the party plan, one-on-one demonstrations, and other personal contact arrangements as...
with a
multi-level marketingMulti-level marketing is a marketing strategy in which the sales force is compensated not only for sales they personally generate, but also for the sales of others they recruit, creating a downline of distributors and a hierarchy of multiple levels of compensation...
(network marketing) strategy. "Independent Business Owners" (IBOs) may market products directly to potential customers and may also recruit (sponsor) and train other people to become IBOs. IBOs may earn income both from the retail markup on any products they sell personally, plus a performance bonus based on the sales volume they and their downline (IBOs they have sponsored) have generated. People may also register as IBOs to buy products at discounted prices.
Orlando Arena naming rights
In December 2006, Alticor secured the naming rights for the 17,000-seat basketball arena in
Orlando, FloridaOrlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
– home of the
Orlando MagicThe Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
, which are owned by the family of Rich DeVos. The arena, formerly known as the TD Waterhouse Centre, is now called Amway Arena. It is scheduled for demolition in late 2011, following the opening of its successor, Amway Center.
San Jose Earthquakes
Prior to the
2009 Major League Soccer seasonThe 2009 Major League Soccer season was the 14th season of Major League Soccer. The season began on March 19 and ended with Real Salt Lake winning the MLS Cup 2009, on November 22 at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington-Changes from the 2008 season:...
, Amway Global signed a three-year deal with the
San Jose EarthquakesThe San Jose Earthquakes professional soccer team is located in the San Jose, California, United States suburb of Santa Clara, and participates in Major League Soccer , the top level soccer league in the United States and Canada....
to become the team's official jersey sponsor.
A major part of the partnership is focused on community initiatives in the
Bay AreaThe San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. As a result, Amway Global is now also the official sponsor of the team's
Kicks for Kids program that focuses on fitness and healthy lifestyles, as well as bringing underprivileged children to Earthquakes games.
The partnership also saw the creation of the Amway Global Street Team, which appears at all Earthquakes home games and at a number of soccer and non-soccer events throughout the Bay Area. The members of the Amway Global Street Team give away Earthquakes-branded merchandise and provide soccer skills demonstrations at each event.
Los Angeles Sol
In March 2009, Amway Global signed a multi-year deal to become the official presenting partner of the Los Angeles Sol of
Women's Professional SoccerWomen's Professional Soccer is the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded 6 teams for the 2011 season, with continued plans for future expansion...
. The deal, however, would last only one year, as the Sol folded after the
2009 seasonThe 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season served as the inaugural season for WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States...
.
Detroit Red Wings
Prior to the 2011-12 season, Amway signed a three-year deal to be the presenting sponsor of the
National Hockey LeagueThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
's
Detroit Red WingsThe Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
.
Political causes
In the 1990s, the Amway organization was a major contributor to the
Republican PartyThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
(GOP) and to the election campaigns of various GOP candidates. Amway and its sales force contributed a substantial amount (up to half) of the total funds ($669,525) for the 1994 political campaign of Republican congresswoman and Amway distributor Sue Myrick (N.C.). According to two reports by
Mother JonesMother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
magazine, a liberal news organization, Amway distributor Dexter Yager “used the company’s extensive voice-mail system to rally hundreds of Amway distributors into giving a total of $295,871” to Myrick’s campaign. According to a campaign staffer quoted by the magazine, Myrick had appeared regularly on the Amway circuit, speaking at hundreds of rallies and selling $5 and $10 audiotapes. Following the 1994 election, Myrick maintained “close ties to Amway and Yager”, and raised $100,000 from Amway sources, “most notably through fundraisers at the homes of big distributors”, in the 1997–98 election cycle.
In October 1994, Amway gave the biggest corporate contribution recorded to that date to a political party for a single election – $2.5 million to the
Republican National CommitteeThe Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
– and was the number one corporate political donor in the U.S. In the 2004 election cycle, the organization contributed a total of $4 million to a conservative
527 groupA 527 organization or 527 group is a type of American tax-exempt organization named after "Section 527" of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code...
,
Progress for AmericaProgress for America and its affiliate Progress for America Voter Fund are national tax-exempt organizations in the United States. PFA was established in 2001 to support George W. Bush's "agenda for America"...
.
In July 1996, Amway co-founder Richard DeVos was honored at a $3 million fundraiser for the Republican Party, and a week later, it was reported that Amway had tried to donate $1.3 million to pay for Republican "infomercials" and televising of the GOP convention on
Pat RobertsonMarion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
's
Family ChannelFamily is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service marketed to children and teenagers aged 2-15. It is owned by Astral Media...
, but backed off when Democrats criticized the donation as a ploy to avoid campaign-finance restrictions.
In April 1997 Richard DeVos and his wife, Helen, gave $1 million to the Republican National Committee, which at the time was the second-largest soft-money donation ever, behind Amway's 1994 gift of $2.5 million to the RNC. In July 1997, Senate Majority leader
Trent LottChester Trent Lott, Sr. , is a former United States Senator from Mississippi and has served in numerous leadership positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate....
and
House SpeakerThe Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
Newt GingrichNewton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
slipped a last-minute provision into a hotly contested compromise tax bill that granted Amway a tax break on its Asian branches, saving it $19 million.
In a column published in the
Fort Worth Star-TelegramThe Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News, which is published from the eastern half of the Metroplex. It is owned...
newspaper in August 1997, reporter
Molly IvinsMary Tyler "Molly" Ivins was an American newspaper columnist, populist, political commentator, humorist and author.-Early life and education:Ivins was born in Monterey, California, and raised in Houston, Texas...
wrote that Amway had "its own caucus in Congress...Five Republican House members are also Amway distributors: Reps. Sue Myrick of North Carolina,
Jon ChristensenJon Christensen is a Norwegian jazz percussionist.In the late 1960s he played alongside Jan Garbarek on several recordings by the composer George Russell....
of Nebraska,
Dick ChryslerRichard "Dick" Chrysler is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.Chrysler was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and graduated from Brighton High School in Brighton, Michigan...
of Michigan, Richard Rombo of California, and
John EnsignJohn Eric Ensign is a former United States Senator from Nevada, serving from January 2001 until he resigned amid an investigation of an ethics violation in May 2011...
of Nevada. Their informal caucus meets several times a year with Amway bigwigs to discuss policy matters affecting the company, including China's trade status."
A 1998 analysis of campaign contributions conducted by
BusinessweekBloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.- History :...
found that Amway, along with the founding families and some top distributors, had donated at least $7 million to GOP causes in the preceding decade. Political candidates who received campaign funding from Amway in 1998 included Representatives Bill Redmond (R-N.M.),
Heather WilsonHeather A. Wilson , is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives representing from 1998 to 2009...
(R-N.M.), and Jon Christensen (R-Neb).
According to a report by the
Center for Public IntegrityThe Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit organization dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern. The Center is non-partisan and non-advocacy and committed to transparent and comprehensive reporting both in the United States and around...
, in the 2004 election cycle, members of the Van Andel and DeVos families were the second, third and fifth largest donors to the Republican party.
Dick DeVosDick DeVos is a businessman and Republican politician from Michigan. The son of billionaire Amway co-founder Richard DeVos, he served as CEO of the multi-level marketing consumer goods distribution company from 1993–2002...
, son of Amway founder Richard DeVos and past president of the company, served as Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee, and his wife
Betsy DeVosElisabeth "Betsy" DeVos is an American politician and school choice activist from the state of Michigan. She is a former chairperson of the Michigan Republican Party.-Family background and education:...
served as chair of the
Michigan Republican PartyThe Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan. It is sometimes referred to as MIGOP, which simply means Michigan Grand Old Party....
from 1996 to 2000 and 2003 to 2005.
In May 2005, Dick DeVos ran against incumbent Governor
Jennifer GranholmJennifer Mulhern Granholm is a Canadian-born American politician, educator, and author who served as Attorney General and 47th Governor of the U.S. state of Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, Granholm became Michigan's first female governor on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded Governor...
in
Michigan's 2006 gubernatorial electionThe Michigan gubernatorial election of 2006 was one of the 36 U.S. gubernatorial elections held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm was re-elected over Republican businessman Dick DeVos, Libertarian Gregory Creswell, Green Douglas Campbell, and U.S. Taxpayer Candidate...
. DeVos was defeated by Granholm, who won 56% of the popular vote to Devos' 42%.
Religion
Several sources have commented on the promotion of
Christian conservativeChristian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
ideology within the Amway organization.
Mother JonesMother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
magazine described the Amway distributor force as "heavily influenced by the company's dual themes of Christian morality and free enterprise" and operating "like a private political army." In
The Cult of Free Enterprise, author (and former Amway distributor) Stephen Butterfield wrote “[Amway] sells a marketing and motivational system, a cause, a way of life, in a fervid emotional atmosphere of rallies and political religious revivalism.”
Philadelphia City PaperPhiladelphia City Paper is a free alternative news weekly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in November 1981 as a spin-off of the now defunct WXPN Express newsletter. New issues are released every Thursday....
correspondent Maryam Henein stated that “The language used in motivational tools for Amway frequently echoes or directly quotes the Bible, with the unstated assumption of a shared Christian perspective.”
BusinessweekBloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.- History :...
correspondents Bill Vlasic and Beth Regan characterized the founding families of Amway as “fervently conservative, fervently Christian, and hugely influential in the Republican Party”, noting that “Rich DeVos charged up the troops with a message of Christian beliefs and rock-ribbed conservatism.”
High-ranking Amway leaders such as
Richard DeVosRichard DeVos, Sr. is an American businessman, co-founder of Amway along with Jay Van Andel , and owner of the Orlando Magic NBA basketball team...
and Dexter Yager were owners and members of the board of Gospel Films, a producer of movies and books geared towards conservative Christians, as well as co-owners (along with
Salem CommunicationsSalem Communications is a U.S. radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher specializing in evangelical Christian and conservative political talk radio. It owns 99 commercial radio stations, 65 of which are in the top 25 markets. Salem is the fifth largest U.S....
) of a right-wing, Christian non-profit entity called Gospel Communications International.
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
's Bob Moser reported that former Amway CEO and co-founder Richard DeVos is connected with the Dominionist political movement in the United States. Moser states that DeVos was a supporter of the late D. James Kennedy, giving more than $5 million to Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries. DeVos was also a founding member and two-time president of the
Council for National PolicyThe Council for National Policy , is an umbrella organization and networking group for social conservative activists in the United States...
, a right-wing Christian-focused organization.
Sociologist
David G. BromleyDavid G. Bromley is a professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. He has written extensively about "cults", new religious movements, apostasy, and the anti-cult movement.- Education and career :Bromley received his...
calls Amway a "quasi-religious corporation" having sectarian characteristics. Bromley and
Anson ShupeAnson D. Shupe is an American sociologist noted for his studies of religious groups and their countermovements, family violence and clergy misconduct.-Work:...
view Amway as preaching the
Gospel of ProsperityProsperity theology or gospel is a Christian religious belief whose proponents claim the Bible teaches that financial blessing is the will of God for Christians. Most teachers of prosperity theology maintain that a combination of faith, positive speech, and donations to Christian ministries will...
. Patralekha Bhattacharya and Krishna Kumar Mehta, of the consulting firm Thinkalytics, LLC, reasoned that although some critics have referred to organizations such as Amway as "cults" and have speculated that they engage in "mind control", there are other explanations that could account for the behavior of distributors. Namely, continued involvement of distributors despite minimal economic return may result from social satisfaction compensating for diminished economic satisfaction.
Chamber of Commerce
Amway co-founder,
Jay Van AndelJay Van Andel was an American businessman best known as co-founder of the Amway Corporation, along with Richard DeVos. He also served as Chairman of the U.S...
(in 1980), and later his son Steve Van Andel (in 2001) were elected by the board of directors of the
United States Chamber of CommerceThe United States Chamber of Commerce is an American lobbying group representing the interests of many businesses and trade associations. It is not an agency of the United States government....
as chairman of the private
American lobbyingLobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
organization.
Environmental initiatives
Amway emphasizes the
environmentalEnvironmentally friendly are terms used to refer to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies claimed to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment....
benefits of many of its products, and in June 1989 the United Nations Environmental Program's Regional Office for North America recognized it for its contributions to the cause of the environment.
Pyramid scheme accusations
Amway has several times been accused of being a
pyramid schemeA pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment or services, primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products or services to the public...
. A 1979 FTC investigation in the United States (see below), a 1997 Belgian court and a 2008 court judgement in the United Kingdom all dismissed these claims.
Harvard Business SchoolHarvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
of Leadership, which described Amway as “one of the most profitable direct selling companies in the world", noted that Amway founders Van Andel and DeVos:
- "...accomplished their success through the use of an elaborate pyramid-like distribution system in which independent distributors of Amway products received a percentage of the merchandise they sold and also a percentage of the merchandise sold by recruited distributors. DeVos was an extremely charismatic speaker and used this ability to mobilize and motivate Amway distributors."
DeVos responded to the pyramid scheme accusations about Amway in a 2009 interview with
Grand Rapids PressThe Grand Rapids Press is a daily newspaper published in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is the largest of the eight Booth newspapers. It is sold for $.75 daily and $2.00 on Sunday.AccuWeather provides weather content to the Grand Rapids Press....
reporter Chris Knape.
- Knape: "Amway has been accused of being a pyramid scheme, of tax evasion and a host of other things. How much of the problems Amway has had over the years can you attribute to the decisions that you made or Jay Van Andel made?"
- DeVos: "We failed to come down hard enough, quick enough, to stamp that sort of thing out. That was a sin of omission. We failed to discipline the organization."
FTC investigation
In a 1979 ruling, the
Federal Trade CommissionThe Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
found that Amway does not qualify as a
pyramid schemeA pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment or services, primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products or services to the public...
because distributors were not paid to recruit people and had to sell products to get bonus checks, and the company was committed to buying back its distributors' excess inventory.
The FTC did, however, find Amway "guilty of price-fixing and making exaggerated income claims"; the company was ordered to stop retail price fixing and allocating customers among distributors and was prohibited from misrepresenting the amount of profit, earnings or sales its distributors are likely to achieve with the business. Amway was ordered to accompany any such statements with the actual averages per distributor, pointing out that more than half of the distributors do not make any money, with the average distributor making less than $100 per month. The order was violated with a 1986 ad campaign, resulting in a $100,000 fine.
Amway India (Andhra Pradesh and Kerala)
In September 2006, following a public complaint,
Andhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
state police (CID) initiated raids and seizures against Amway distributors in the state, and submitted a petition against them, claiming the company violated the
Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (banning) Act. They shut down all offices of firm Amway, and Arijit Saha writes that "with it the fate of 80,000 distributors of the company has been indefinitely sealed".
The enforcement said that the business model of the company is illegal. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had notified the police that Amway in India may be violating certain laws regarding a "money circulation scheme" and the
IB TimesThe International Business Times is an online global business newspaper, published in 17 editions in 10 languages across 13 countries. The publication, sometimes called IBTimes, offers news, analysis and editorial commentary on business and business related stories...
article writes that "some say ... Amway is really more about making money from recruiting people to become distributors, as opposed to selling products." The complaint was initiated following a dowry dispute between a local man and his wife, an Amway distributor.
Following a petition by Amway, the state High Court issued an injunction against the CID and stated the Act did not
prima faciePrima facie is a Latin expression meaning on its first encounter, first blush, or at first sight. The literal translation would be "at first face", from the feminine form of primus and facies , both in the ablative case. It is used in modern legal English to signify that on first examination, a...
apply, however after Amway requested the CID petition be dismissed the High Court declared that if police allegations were true, Amway's
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n subsidiary would be in violation of the act and the investigation should continue. On August 14, 2007, the Supreme Court of India ordered the state police to complete the investigation against Amway in 6 months. In 2008, citing the High Court decision, the Andhra Pradesh state government enacted a ban on Amway media advertisements. Amway challenged the ban and in July 2009 the AP High Court refused a petition the ban should be enforced. As of June, 2009 the original 2006 CID case was still pending at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Hyderabad.
On August 6, 2011
Kerala PoliceThe Kerala State Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Kerala, India. Kerala Police has its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. The Police training college was set up by Travancore Maharaja in Thiruvananthapuram in mid 20th centuary. In 2004,a larger Kerala...
sealed the offices of Amway at
KozhikodeKozhikode During Classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, Kozhikkode was dubbed the "City of Spices" for its role as the major trading point of eastern spices. Kozhikode was once the capital of an independent kingdom of the same name and later of the erstwhile Malabar District...
,
KannurKannur , also known as Cannanore, is a city in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the District of Kannur and 518km north of state capital Trivandrum. During British rule in India, Kannur was known by its old name Cannanore, which is still in...
,
Kochi-Places:* Kochi, a city in the state of Kerala, India, formerly known as Cochin* Kingdom of Cochin, a former feudal city-state on Malabar Coast, India** Fort Kochi, one of the three main urban components which constitute the present day city of Kochi, Kerala, India...
,
KottayamKottayam is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 55.40 km2. It is the administrative capital of the Kottayam district. Kottayam Kottayam (Malayalam: കോട്ടയം) is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 55.40 km2. It is the administrative...
,
ThrissurThis article is about the city in India. For the district, see Thrissur district. For the urban agglomeration area of Thrissur see Thrissur Metropolitan Area...
,
KollamKollam , often anglicized as ', is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city lies on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake on the Arabian sea coast and is situated about north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram...
and
ThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
following complaints. As a result of it government formed a committee to form guidelines in direct selling in Kerala.
On 1st November 2011, major distributors in Kerala decided to leave
AmwayAmway is a direct selling company and manufacturer that uses network marketing to sell a variety of products, primarily in the health, beauty, and home care markets. Amway was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos...
and join
MonavieMonaVie is a beverage company distributing products made from blended fruit juice concentrates with freeze-dried açaí powder and purée through a multi-level marketing business model...
.
The
Kerala High CourtHigh Court of Kerala is the highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. The High Court of Kerala is headquartered at Kochi...
on 9 November directed the DGP,
Kerala PoliceThe Kerala State Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Kerala, India. Kerala Police has its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. The Police training college was set up by Travancore Maharaja in Thiruvananthapuram in mid 20th centuary. In 2004,a larger Kerala...
to file a statement regarding the status of the investigation initiated against the multi-level marketing companies.A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice C N Ramachandran Nair issued the directive while considering a petition challenging the government order regarding the Kerala direct selling regulations.
Class action settlement
On November 3, 2010, Amway announced that it had agreed to pay $56 million – $34 million in cash and $22 million in products – to settle a
class actionIn law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
that had been filed in Federal District Court in California in 2007. The class action, which had been brought against Quixtar and several of its top-level distributors, alleged fraud, racketeering, and that the defendants operated as an illegal pyramid scheme.
While noting that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing or liability, Amway acknowledged that it had made changes to its business operations as a result of the lawsuit. The settlement is subject to approval by the court, which is expected in early 2011. The economic value of the settlement, including the changes Amway made to its business model, totals $100 million.
Canadian tax case
In 1983, Amway pleaded guilty to criminal
tax evasionTax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
and customs fraud in Canada, resulting in a fine of $25 million CAD, the largest fine ever imposed in Canada at the time. In 1989 the company settled the outstanding customs duties for $45 million CAD.
In a 1994 interview, Amway co-founder Rich DeVos stated that this incident had been his greatest "moral or spiritual challenge", first in "soul searching as to whether they had done anything wrong" and then for pleading guilty for technical reasons, despite believing they were innocent of the charges. DeVos stated he believed that the case had been motivated by "political reasons".
RIAA lawsuit
The
Recording Industry Association of AmericaThe Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA), as part of its anti-piracy efforts, sued Amway and several distributors in 1996, alleging that copyrighted music was used on "highly profitable" training videotapes. Amway denied wrongdoing, blaming the case on a misunderstanding by distributors, and settled the case out of court for $9 million. In a related lawsuit initiated by the distributors involved, the Court established that Mahaleel Lee Luster, who had been contracted to make the videotapes, had violated copyright without the knowledge of three of the five of those distributors.
Procter & Gamble
Some Amway distributors were involved with an
urban legendAn urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
that the (old) Procter & Gamble service mark was in fact a
SatanicSatanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
symbol or that the CEO of P&G is himself a practicing Satanist. (In some variants of the urban legend, it is also claimed that the CEO of Procter & Gamble donated "satanic tithes" to the
Church of SatanThe Church of Satan is an organization dedicated to the acceptance of the carnal self, as articulated in The Satanic Bible, written in 1969 by Anton Szandor LaVey.- History :...
.) Procter & Gamble alleged that several Amway distributors were behind a resurgence of the urban legend in the 1990s and sued several independent Amway distributors and the company for defamation and slander. The distributors had used Amway's Amvox voice messaging service to send the rumor to their downline distributors in April 1995. After more than a decade of lawsuits in multiple states, by 2003 all allegations against Amway and Amway distributors had been dismissed. In October 2005 a Utah appeals court reversed part of the decision dismissing the case against the four Amway distributors, and remanded it to the lower court for further proceedings. On March 20, 2007, Procter & Gamble was awarded $19.25M by a U.S. District Court jury in Salt Lake City, in the lawsuit against the four former Amway distributors.
On November 24, 2008, the case was officially settled.
Amway UK
In May 2007, the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) accused Amway and distributor organizations Britt WorldWide and Network TwentyOne UK of "objectionable practices" and petitioned to wind up the companies. The case against Amway was dismissed in 2008 on the condition that a full
earnings disclosure is published publicly, no registration or renewal fees are charged and that the sale of business support materials are prohibited. The case against Network 21 was dismissed in 2009.
Welcome to Life (Poland)
In 1997, Amway Poland and Network TwentyOne separately sued the makers of a Polish film
Welcome to Life for defamation and copyright violations. The director and producer were later acquitted on the charge of disseminating false information. The film, banned for 12 years, was one of the highly anticipated movies of 2009's Warsaw Film Festival and was dubbed by the promoters as a "scary movie about brainwashing" that depicts hard-sell "pep rallies" and distributors stating meetings were operated similar to the
Communist PartyA political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
and methods of recruitment that confusingly resembled those of a sect. A best-seller on the local video black market., the film was banned while the suit proceeded.
In 2001 a regional court ruled in favor of Network 21; however, in 2004 the Warsaw Regional Court dismissed Amway's civil lawsuit. On appeal Amway won the case and the producers were ordered to pay a fine to a children's charity and publish a public apology. As of 2009 the film was still banned due to an ongoing case brought by "private individuals" ridiculed in the film.
Dr. Phil and Shape Up
In March 2004, TV personality
Phil McGrawPhillip Calvin McGraw best known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality, author, former psychologist, and the host of the television show Dr. Phil, which debuted in 2002...
(aka Dr. Phil) pulled his “Shape Up” line of supplements off the market in the face of an investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The supplements were manufactured by CSA Nutraceuticals, a subsidiary of Alticor’s Access Business Group. The FTC later dropped the probe; however, in October 2005, a class-action lawsuit was filed against McGraw by several people who used the products and claimed that the supplements, which cost $120 per month, did not stimulate weight loss. In September 2006, a $10.5 million settlement was reached, in which Alticor agreed to provide $4.5 million in cash and $6 million in Nutrilite products to disgruntled users of Shape Up.
Other issues
In 2004,
Dateline NBCDateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
featured a critical report based on a yearlong undercover investgation of business practices within the Amway organization. The report noted that the average distributor makes only about $1,400 per year and that many of the “high level distributors singing the praises of Quixtar [Amway]” are actually “making most of their money by selling motivational books tapes and seminars; not Quixtar’s cosmetics, soaps, and electronics.”
- "In fact, about twenty high level distributors are part of an exclusive club; one that those hundreds of thousands of other distributors don’t get to join. For years only a privileged few, including Bill Britt, have run hugely profitable businesses selling all those books tapes and seminars; things the rank and file distributors can’t sell themselves but, are told over and over again, they need to buy in order to succeed."
It was also revealed that an Amway recruiter featured in the report (Chris Fredericks) made misleading and inconsistent statements about Amway earnings during a recruitment meeting and had an outstanding
arrest warrantAn arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....
for drug dealing.
Some Amway distributor groups have been accused of using
cultThe word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
-like tactics to attract new distributors and keep them involved and committed. Allegations include resemblance to a Big Brother organization with paranoid attitude to insiders critical of the organization, seminars and rallies resembling religious
revival meetingA revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held in order to inspire active members of a church body, to raise funds and to gain new converts...
s and enormous involvement of distributors despite minimal incomes. An examination of the 1979–1980 tax records in the state of
WisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
showed that the Direct Distributors, reported a net loss of $918 on average.
See also
- Alticor
Alticor is a privately held corporation, owned and run by members of the DeVos and Van Andel families. It was established in 1999 to serve as the parent company for a handful of business ventures, most notably the direct selling company Amway and Quixtar and a manufacturing and distribution...
- Amway Australia
Amway Australia is the affiliate of Amway that serves Australia and New Zealand. The company began in 1971. The head office is located in the Sydney suburb of Castle Hill, New South Wales. Amway Australia has offices and centres across the country and currently employs over 200 staff.-History:Amway...
- Artistry (cosmetics)
Artistry is a brand of skin care and colour cosmetics, produced by Access Business Group and marketed by Amway in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. Access, Quixtar, and Amway are part of the Alticor group of companies...
- Direct selling
Direct selling is the marketing and selling of products directly to consumers away from a fixed retail location. Peddling is the oldest form of direct selling. Modern direct selling includes sales made through the party plan, one-on-one demonstrations, and other personal contact arrangements as...
- eCoupled
eCoupled is a proprietary near-field wireless energy transfer technology developed by Fulton Innovation, a division of Alticor. It provides wireless power transfer via inductive coupling between a primary transmission coil and a secondary receiving coil...
- Kleeneze
Kleeneze Homecare is a multi-level marketing company, and was started in 1923, in Hanham, Bristol, England. The founder, Harry Crook, had emigrated to America with his family several years earlier and while there joined Fuller Brush as a sales representative. He returned to Bristol several years...
- Multi-level marketing
Multi-level marketing is a marketing strategy in which the sales force is compensated not only for sales they personally generate, but also for the sales of others they recruit, creating a downline of distributors and a hierarchy of multiple levels of compensation...
- Network TwentyOne
- Nutrilite
Nutrilite is a brand of mineral, vitamin, and dietary supplements created in 1934 by Dr. Carl F. Rehnborg. Nutrilite products are currently manufactured by Access Business Group, a subsidiary of Alticor whose products are sold via the Amway and Amway Global Corporations worldwide...
- XS Energy Drink
XS Energy Drink is an energy drink manufactured by a California-based company, and exclusively distributed by Amway Global in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the UK and Japan.-Product information:...
Books
- American Victory: The Real Story of Today's Amway published April, 1997 by Chapel & Croft Publishing; ISBN 0-96451716-7
- Amway: The Cult of Free Enterprise published December 1, 1985 by South End Press
South End Press is a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 by Michael Albert, Lydia Sargent, John Schall, Pat Walker, Juliet Schor, Mary Lea, Joe Bowring, and Dave Millikan, among others, in Boston's South End...
; ISBN 0-96487951-4
- Amway Forever: The Amazing Story of a Global Business Phenomenon published August 2011 by John Wiley & Sons; ISBN 978-0-470-48821-8
- Amway: The True Story of the Company That Transformed the Lives of Millions published September 1, 1999 by Berkley Publishing Group; ISBN 0-42517040-3
- An Enterpising Life published 1998 by HarperCollins; ISBN 0-88730-997-6
- An Uncommon Freedom, the Amway Experience and Why It Grows published 1982 by Revell; ASIN B000HFJE1Y
- Commitment to excellence: The remarkable Amway story published 1986 by Benjamin; ISBN 0-875021360
- Compassionate Capitalism: People Helping People Help Themselves published September, 1994 by Penguin Books; ISBN 0-452-27051-0
- Empire of Freedom: The Amway Story and What It Means to You published September 3, 1997 by Prima Lifestyles; ISBN 0761510885
- How to Be Like Rich Devos. Succeeding with Integrity in Business and Life published 2004 by Health Communications, Inc; ISBN 0-7573-0158-4
- Merchants of Deception: An Insider's Chilling Look at the Worldwide, Multi Billion dollar Conspiracy of lies that is Amway and its Motivational Organizations published 2009 by BookSurge Publishing; ISBN 978-1439247150
- The First Eleven — The growth of Amway in Britain through the lives of its local heroes published 1984 by AM Publishing; ISBN 0-9509593-0-8
- Promises to Keep: The Amway Phenomenon and How It Works published 1986 by Berkley Books; ISBN 0425098567
- The Direct Selling Revolution: Understanding the Growth of the Amway Corporation published 1993 by WileyBlackwell; ISBN 978-0631192299
- The Possible Dream: A Candid Look At Amway published 1977 by Revell; ISBN 0800708571
Documentaries
- Profiles of the American Dream: Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel and the Remarkable Beginnings of Amway 1997 by Premiere Films; ASIN: B000OK0YRA
External links
Government documents
Profiles