eli5 How do multi-million dollar pyramid schemes stay around for so long?

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The company’s that everyone knows are MLM trash (HerbaLife, JuicePlus, ect). When I was looking for a job I naively joined a seminar discussing CutCo Knives. Come to find out these dud muffin companies have been around since my mom was growing up, and are somehow still operational? Wouldn’t the BBB or whatever business bureau operates in the US (FTC?) have these scams shut down by now? I understand that new ones are popping up all the time but im referring to the ones that have been around forever now.

In: Economics

41 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because as long as you can find new suckers to bring in, the people who are already in are making money. It only stops working when you can’t find enough new suckers so that there isn’t new money coming in to pay the people already there.

As for their legality, they skirt the law as best they can. And grease palms and line pockets when they can’t.

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