In the 1990s, Don Lapre made a fortune by convincing people they could get rich by operating 900 numbers. In the early aughts, he marketed a nutritional supplement dubbed “the Greatest Vitamin in the World.” It was a pyramid scheme, and it helped Lapre swindle millions.
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Oct 2020
Herbalife Pt. 2: “Diet Shake Scam”
In 2012, investor Bill Ackman made it his mission to bring Herbalife down, citing unethical business practices. But the string of lawsuits, investigations, and news segments that followed did little to oust the billion dollar brand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcast ... Show More
46m 50s
Jun 9
Multi-Level Marketing: Your Product is You | 162
Multi-level marketing businesses like Mary Kay, HerbaLife, and Amway are so ubiquitous, it's almost hard to imagine where they started or how deep their influence goes. In this special episode of Scamfluencers, Sarah Hagi talks with Bridget Read about her new book, Little Bosses ... Show More
50m 3s
Jul 16
Bridget Read (on multilevel marketing)
Bridget Read (Little Bosses Everywhere: How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America) is a features writer, journalist, and author. Bridget joins the Armchair Expert to discuss working as a young writer at Vogue during the blog boom, how door-to-door salesmen evolved into multi-level ma ... Show More
2h 7m
Feb 2022
Robber Barons: J.P. Morgan
Born into a banking dynasty, John Pierpont Morgan became a Wall Street wunderkind in the 1860s. By his early 30s, he could afford an early retirement. But a life of leisure wasn’t in the cards for Morgan, who would go on to cut history-making deals, multiply his exorbitant wealth ... Show More
45m 5s
Apr 2025
The Real Greatest Showman
PT Barnum may be better known as the loose subject of the movie The Greatest Showman, but his life was so much more than that work of fiction. A master of entertainment, an entrepreneur, and a genius of publicity, he built a career on feeding public curiosity with his grand illus ... Show More
1h 4m