Nxivm survivor India Oxenberg explains how the cult had many similarities to multilevel marketing companies
- India Oxenberg spent seven years as a member of the Nxivm cult, and after breaking free she says she notices many similarities between the cult and multilevel marketing companies, including recruitment style.
- During the initial pitch, Nxivm promised that its Executive Success Program would be like a "practical MBA," Oxenberg told Business Insider.
- After joining, she alleged she was forced to become a "slave" to cult leader Keith Raniere and was branded with Raniere's initials.
- "They used people of notoriety in order to recruit, and they also used word of mouth," Oxenberg says.
Right off the bat, India Oxenberg felt drawn in by Nxivm.
When she attended an initial pitch for Nxivm's Executive Success Program in Los Angeles in 2011, she recalled seeing high-profile entrepreneurs, Harvard grads, and even Hollywood celebrities were also in attendance. She was dazzled by the turnout, and Nxivm's promise of a bright future sealed the deal.
"The way that they pitched it was that this was going to be a practical MBA and that it was going to be my version of alternative education," India Oxenberg told Business Insider. "They said I was going to gain the skills that I needed in order to be successful in my life. And on top of it, they also sold that they would be able to remove illogical fears that were holding you back from going all in on any of your projects."
But since she broke free from the cult, she's said she come to realize that many of the tactics Nxivm used were similar to multilevel marketing companies, which have that name because their revenue derives both from commission on sales of products and from the sales of recruits, referred to as downline distributing.
An MLM-style approach to recruiting
One multilevel marketing tactic used by Nxivm, Oxenberg said, was its recruitment style.
"They used people of notoriety in order to recruit, and they also used word of mouth," said Oxenberg, who broke her silence for the first time on October 13. "They didn't actually have to advertise because once you were indoctrinated enough into the program … you would go out and tell people. And because they trusted you, they would say yes."
The personal dynamics have a power of their own in an organizational setting, said Jennifer Chatman, a professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, who researches, teaches, and consults on how companies leverage organizational culture to improve corporate performance.
"Two things can happen," she told Business Insider. "One is that the organization is kind of blessed by your friend. And the second is that you walk in already feeling pressure to perform because it's your friends, who you care about."
Oxenberg explained how Nxivm's leader, Keith Raniere, purposely used tactics similar to those of multilevel-marketing companies that ultimately reeled her in and got her to stay for over seven years. During her journey, she was recruited into a secret "master-slave" sorority group within Nxivm called DOS, where she was starved, abused and even branded with Raniere's initials, she said.
Dozens of women have since come forward with harrowing accounts of their involvement with DOS, which stands for "Dominus Obsequious Sororium."
Raniere was arrested in March 2018 in connection to DOS, and indicted on a series of federal charges including sex trafficking, conspiracy for sex trafficking, and conspiracy to commit forced labor. On June 19, 2019, Raniere was convicted of all charges, including racketeering.
Raniere maintains his innocence. "Mr. Raniere stands by his position at trial that he is innocent, and he will fight to prove his innocence in a courtroom," his attorney Marc Agnifilo told Business Insider.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 27.