Success University
Encyclopedia
Success University is a multi-level marketing program
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...

 started by Matt Morris in January 2005. It has also been identified as a pyramid scheme
Pyramid scheme
A 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...

. Success University does not employ any professors and does not have any premises; instead members are offered online courses on topics such as success in business, or physical wellbeing. Members have to pay an introduction fee, and are then encouraged to invite other people to join in exchange for a part of the benefits.

According to a study by the Bank of Namibia
Bank of Namibia
The Bank of Namibia was established in 1993 to replace the never opened Namibia Reserve Bank. The Bank of Namibia is the only institution that is permitted to issue the Namibian dollar by authority that has been given to it under an Act of the Namibian Parliament. The head of the Bank of Namibia is...

, Success University presents the features of a pyramid scheme, and they have estimated that about 88% percent of participants eventually make losses, with only a minority - at the top of the pyramid - making benefits. Namibia declared Success University illegal in 2008.

Ketan Hirani and Kalpesh Patel introduced the scheme in London in January 2008. Prior to Success University, they have also been involved with several other pyramid schemes run by Robert Fitzpatrick and Gurdeep Singh, including the Omi Club, VIP and MLI schemes. Hirani and Patel have been banned from the University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

campus, following a speech there about Success University.
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