0000000016 00000 n Koscot was founded in 1967. 0000009459 00000 n %PDF-1.7 % This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. 0000002201 00000 n The Arizona case marked the first felony conviction for Turner, who built a fortune around his Orlando-based pyramid sales 20 years ago. Lotstein said 202 Arizona residents participated in the program. Today, fake it till you make it has come to represent the scrappy, optimistic mind-set of American hustle culture. [11], In 1973, a federal judge in Pittsburgh combined more than 1,000 lawsuits by unhappy Koscot investors and regulatory officials into "a single class-action lawsuit seeking more than $900 million. 0000006496 00000 n Best Match Powered by Whitepages Premium AGE 80+ Glenn Turner Houston, TX (Inner Loop) View Full Report Addresses Yoakum Blvd, Houston, TX ", United States Congress, Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, 1977, P.53. [28], CEO and President Roland R. Nocera pleaded guilty to securities fraud, in the case United States v. Nocera, et al. What does it mean for a nation to valorize faking it as a means to an end and is there any way for Americans to turn back? "Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments and Consumer Leasing Act-1975., Hearings, United States Congress. 748 - IN THE MATTER OF HOLIDAY MAGIC, INC., ET AL. The castle and boathouse have been vacant for several years, and the castle has been used only for tours by the public for charitable events. 72-390. 235 0 obj "They come from preachers, lawyers, housewives, plumbers, carpenters," Dougherty said. He subsequently bought exclusive rights for Middle East distribution of Holiday Magic cosmetics and formed his own company, Beauty Magic, in Beirut, Lebanon. See the article in its original context from. Senate. GLENN W. TURNER ENTERPRISES, INC., a Florida corporation, et al., Defendants. Glenn W. Turner, who was frequently described himself as a "harelipped sharecropper's son" (leaving some doubt as to which of them was afflicted), built an ephemeral fortune on a pyramid. "[7], According to one report target of prosecutors "in more than 30 states" targeted him. Glenn W. Turner is now all but forgotten. The guy at the top could make millions. (As for The Apprentices more famous host Donald Trump, a nepo baby who cosplayed a successful mogul on the show we all know how that turned out.). 0000001036 00000 n As we transitioned from a society that manufactured things to one whose products were intangible, reality was increasingly in the eye of the beholder or the pitchman. ), it's too late to put the book down. If it can happen to Charles Colson, folks, you gotta believe. 58.95. During the eight-week trial, however, two former top Turner aides testified that Challenge officials knew their operation was illegal. Although Turner did eventually get some cosmetics on the market, the pyramid idea was always at the heart of his operation, accounting for $75 million of its total $115 million in sales; and he started a second company, merchandising a howtobeasuccess course called Dare to Be Great on the same principle. Dropping the creator of Dilbert is free speech at work, Ron DeSantis shows how not to run an education system, False Profits: Seeking Financial and Spiritual Deliverance in Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Schemes. [1] In 1971, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Koscot, charging restraint of trade. 84 F.T.C. The Rise and Fall of Glenn Turner and His Financial Pyramid, https://www.nytimes.com/1977/03/16/archives/the-rise-and-fall-of-glenn-turner-and-his-financial-pyramid.html. torture involving a mouse that was supposed to eat a recalcitrant witness's heart (Good Lord! 0000001769 00000 n xref [5] [1], In 1974, after almost 10 years in operation and tied to pyramid schemes and controversy, both Leadership Dynamics and Mind Dynamics ceased operations. 0000043655 00000 n Donate [2][vague] The organization was dissolved in 1974, subsequent to the death of Patrick in 1973. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge. 1974., May 20, 1974. Originally the organization distributed goods such as home-care products and cosmetics. By Rudy Maxa. 0000004119 00000 n [16] Katz's Everybody's Business: An Almanac also referred to Holiday Magic as a "pyramid sales organization". 748 as an example of pyramid schemes. ". As far as Ive been able to discover, these are among the first times that this now commonplace phrase received prominent mention in the media. [7] As one news story put it: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, Think about it: One person could sell 10 distributorships, and each of the 10 could sell 10 more, and so on. Turner, the son of a South Carolina sharecropper and a self-styled country boy, rose to fame in the early 1970s through inspirational speeches that promised great wealth if people bought distributorships in his operations. The empire collapsed in the early 1970s when authorities accused Turner of violating laws against pyramid sales, in which investors at the top make a fortune and those who get in later lose money. Illustrated. of plan, which will be referred to as the Glenn Turner or multi-level distributorship scheme, the promoters offer to the public a series of contracts called "Adventures." Prosecutors said Challenge officials misled investors by telling them they would not have to put up their own money. [7] He told reporters as he was led away to jail: The good that I have done outweighs the bad. Glenn Turner's Koscot charges $2,000 for the right to distribute "kosmetics." Holiday Magic (Bus. He seems to have been equal parts P. T. Barnum, Horatio Alger, snake oil salesman and evangelist. <>stream "[7] Turner, attorney F. Lee Bailey, and eight others were also indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy and mail fraud charges. .to various charitable organizations. Since his victims were usually the little people, the guys who are always getting it in the neck from the system anyway, it was a matter of hitting cripples. A nine-month trial ended in a hung jury. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Marjoe knew, Clifford Irving knew, but Mr. Maxa, who doesn't seem to be just anybody's fool, honestly believes that Turner honestly believed that he was honest. [3] Another has him convicted in 1987 along with Edward Rector, on charges of conspiracy, fraud and operating a pyramid scheme, and sentenced to seven years in prison. [6], In February 1973, Holiday Magic was sued for calumny by Avon Products. [22] According to the Duke Law Journal: "Illegality permeated every facet of the promotion of the Holiday Magic marketing program. Mr. Maxa, Washington Post reporter, describes this ripe chapter in the annals of Boobus Americanus with clarity and an eye for the juicy detail. 235 37 mid plans has focused on a single organization, Glenn W. Turner Enter-prises, Inc., a holding company with 68 subsidiaries3 including the two most successful and most maligned pyramid schemes, DG and its sister company Koscot Interplanetary, Inc. Its inherently manipulative, deceptive, fraudulent, inauthentic, says Robert L. FitzPatrick, co-author of False Profits: Seeking Financial and Spiritual Deliverance in Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Schemes. Yet, he adds, its just entered the culture, and its completely normalized.. Investment of $5,000. ", United States Congress. Wk. 0000008799 00000 n 2/10/75, p. 38) and Bestline . It didnt. According to a presentence investigation, Turner, who has been living in North Carolina, is broke and has no assets or income. Theres a difference between psyching yourself up and misrepresenting yourself, and the latter is where fake it has gone too far. But what made him "really rich" was reportedly Koscot Interplanetary[6] (Koscot stood for "Kosmetics for the Communities of Tomorrow"). However, the focus of the company was more about selling distributorships than cosmetics. 0000041122 00000 n [9] "The end began in October 1969, when 14 Koscot distributors in Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana sued Turner for failing to pay promised dividends. Holiday Magic Inc. et al. The good that I have done outweighs the bad. These levels (as in "multi-level marketing") could make money by getting commissions from recruiting other participants to work as salespeople, supervisors or directors, and getting commissions on orders of cosmetics from other lower level recruited participants. Turner, who was pale and appeared tired, and Rector, his former bodyguard, had no visible reaction to the sentences. [17] Turner described it as one of the first "pyramid marketing" companies in America. 0000006135 00000 n 0000001660 00000 n In the low-interest-rate environment of the past decade, investors put up money with little diligence, and fake it till you make it turned toxic. 0000006496 00000 n One report has him convicted of running a pyramid scheme in Arizona in 1985 and released after five years in prison. The Glenn Turner court was confronted with the pyramid sales scheme of Dare to Be Great, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Glenn W. Turner Enterprises, Inc. Ostensibly Dare sold through four "adven-tures" and one "plan" a motivation training course consisting of printed [7] Disillusioned recruits testified against Turner or his companies, and one judge cited the phrase ('fake it until you make it') as evidence of malfeasance. https://www.nytimes.com/1977/02/20/archives/dare-to-be-great-a-sincere-con-man.html. The $5,000 investment paid for motivational seminars and tapes, but the indictment said the real business of the pyramid operation was to induce more people to invest money to become salespeople who, in turn, were expected to recruit others. "Summary of Testimony and Findings and Conclusions Resulting from Hearings in New York on Drug Law. 0000023584 00000 n These circumstances have led us into a society that is both more cynical and more predatory, both more receptive to and encouraging of outright fakers. But what he is actually selling, he . The Dream, a podcast about multi-level marketing, discussed Holiday Magic and William Penn Patrick. They were convicted last month on charges of conspiracy, fraud and illegal pyramid sales in connection with their Challenge Inc. motivational program. 0000003839 00000 n A Maricopa County Superior Court jury convicted Turner and Rector Tuesday on charges that they promoted a pyramid scheme, similar to chain letters, with their motivational company Challenge. 0000010114 00000 n As it turned out, investors would have to pay $5,000 apiece to participate in the program, which revolved around distributorships for sales of motivational cassettes, classes and books. Koscot Interplanetary, Inc. was an Orlando, Florida based multi-level marketing cosmetic company selling mink oil-based cosmetics, owned by Glenn Wesley Turner (19342020). Holiday Magic was a multi-level marketing organization, founded in 1964, by William Penn Patrick (19301973) in the United States. It is a story that will finally end Thursday in Phoenix, Arizona, where Turner, who turns 53 on Wednesday, faces a potentially long prison sentence for the fraud convictions last month that. Mencken, Mr. Maxa says, would have loved Glenn Turner as one of those colorful rogues who enliven the American scene, a sort of cross between Elmer Gantry and Charles Ponzi, whose name is to financial pyramids what Tutankhamen's is to the original. But nowhere has the ethos of fake it found more fertile soil than in Silicon Valley, where the line between optimism and deceit can admittedly be a fine one. Glenn Wesley Turner August 19, 1934 - January 8, 2020 Lake Mary, Florida Set a Reminder for the Anniversary of Glenn's Passing Forward to Family & Friends Share a Memory Print Contact Support Upgrade Death Certificates Share This Obituary Make a Memorial Donation Tributes.com partners with over 100 national charities. [13], The company was cited by the United States House of Representatives in a 1975 hearing[14] as an example of consumer fraud, again in 1977,[15] and in 1991, in a hearing by the House Committee on Small Business. Turner ran in the Democratic primary for the United States Senate election in Florida, 1974, but lost. He said neither man would be eligible for release from prison before serving at least two-thirds of the sentence. Pyramid schemes are inherently unstable and eventually must collapse. Generally, the product or service is of poor quality, overpriced, or has no purpose other than as a ploy to give the company the appearance of legality. 0000009459 00000 n Turner, the son of a sharecropper, told people they. 271 0 obj Glenn W. Turner, who was frequently described himself as a harelipped sharecropper's son (leaving some doubt as to which of them was afflicted), built an ephemeral fortune on a pyramid selling scheme in the late 1960's and early 70's. Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs. But his empire collapsed after state and federal investigators accused him of operating pyramid schemes that bilked thousands of investors. 0000000016 00000 n We need a reset, and to find a way to once again prioritize and reward diligent, honest effort over faux success. And the Wells Fargo C-suite was looking the other way as employees, desperate to meet unrealistic sales quotas, opened millions of fake bank and credit card accounts. [9] The FTC found that Holiday Magic was in violation of section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and section 2 (a) of the Clayton Antitrust Act. By the spring of 1969, Turner was living in a large home on Lake Maitland near Orlando Florida, and "had eight Cadillacs and a Rolls-Royce, three Learjets and a closetful of tailor-made suits and alligator shoes". Glenn W. Turner is now all but forgotten. hb```e`` /`"\}!5|Z1O(s@Tu4t5UL- M-\\mm||=C#cbC"R32S PHOENIX, ARIZ. Glenn W. Turner, a farmboy who built and lost a multimillion-dollar financial empire with his pyramid sales schemes, lost his freedom Thursday. 0000001036 00000 n At the meeting Turner's proteges would run to the stage in their flashy suits and fancy shoes, with $100 or even $1,000 bills pinned to their lapels. [7], When some salespeople found customers in short supply, Turner encouraged them to 'fake it until you make it,' by wearing expensive clothes and waving around $100 bills to lure in others". Participants could pay $2,000 to be a supervisor or $5,400 to be a director. 256 pp. <<7C981AD2C2A8B2110A00B0784D58FC7F>]/Prev 803466>> Turner and his best. [1] Distributors for Holiday Magic, who took the course, have considered it as a Holiday Magic Business expense. His sales rallies became legend. Summary of this case from Great Western Bank & Trust v . %%EOF But Dougherty denied bond and ordered both men to begin serving their sentences immediately. )[6] More than 88,000 people have invested about $44 million in various organizations operated by Turner, according to Federal Trade Commission figures cited by Attorney General Bob Corbins office in 1980. IT WOULD BE impossible to write a book about the sales empire of Glenn Turner without invoking H. L. Mencken's familiar remark that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people. As Mr, Maxa notes, Americans have always had a weakness for successful rogues. Dougherty also ordered Turner and Rector to pay $44,000 each in fines to be distributed to victims. the Glenn Turner modification is a good one. A few months later, another seller would tell a Florida courtroom that he, too, had been instructed to fake it till you make it. When the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Turners company, a judge cited the phrase as evidence of malfeasance. 5616. ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) _ A three-story, 16-room castle owned by onetime motivational entrepreneur Glenn Turner is going on the auction block, with the Internal Revenue Service and other creditors splitting the proceeds. (Free Speech issue - dismissed), Juice Plus AKA National Safety Associates, European Grouping of Marketing Professionals, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Holiday_Magic&oldid=1140202664, Companies based in San Rafael, California, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles needing clarification, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2009, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Holiday Magic, Inc. v. As he was led off to jail, he told reporters: The good that I have done outweighs the bad. . The election of Ronald Reagan marked the beginning of an era of worshiping wealth, one in which more and more people came to believe that anything that made money was by definition a success. [1], Pyramid schemes being illegal, Koscot became involved in substantial litigation from government agencies and Koscot's customers. 0000010114 00000 n The distributors could make thousands. A list of over 350 print sources on paper chain letters and pyramid schemes. United States Senate election in Florida, 1974, "Meet the con man who sold America on 'fake it till you make it', "Dare to be Great, Inc! Those in the positions of Instructor General, Trainer General, and Senior General were required to take the training. endobj Citation Needed, a podcast, has an episode about William Penn Patrick (and Holiday Magic). The two men told Dougherty before sentencing that they never intended to break the law. The purpose of this Note is to investigate the I didn't take it seriously because I was running for . <>stream But his empire collapsed after state and federal investigators accused him of operating pyramid schemes that bilked thousands of investors. But this salesman extraordinaire in flashy suits was once all but omnipresent in American life. 0000045154 00000 n That spirit is everywhere. Box 1. 0000002472 00000 n JPMorgan Chase fell for Frank, a college financial planning outfit whose customer base it later (allegedly) discovered was mostly made up of fake email addresses created at the behest of founder Charlie Javice. High by today's standards but even more powerful based on the times. One representative pyramid venture, Dare to be Great, Inc., is de-scribed in SEC v. Glenn W Turner Enterprises, Inc. 8 . 0000032500 00000 n Glenn Turner, operator of Challenge, Inc., of Goldenrod, Fla., and two other Florida executives were indicted Wednesday by a grand jury on 126 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud and. 0000023769 00000 n [1] To form the pyramids of success, many directors, larger numbers of supervisors, salespeople and still more customers were needed. There being no provision in either law or morality for fraud without intent, it's hard to figure out what that makes Glenn Turner. They would peddle mink oil makeup and his Dare to Be Great motivational tapes, and collect more money by recruiting others and taking a percentage on their sales. When newly minted salespeople found it impossible to make a go of it, they were told to fake it until you make it, by wearing expensive clothes and waving around $100 bills to lure in others, a disillusioned Oregon recruit testified in court in 1972. [1] It became entangled in numerous legal difficulties and went out of business in the 1970s.[2]. But it draws on older strains in American life, marrying psychological concepts on how to change human behavior with the positive-thinking self-help culture that might as well be Americas unofficial state religion. Koscot Interplanetary. Glenn Turner was, as he liked to tell anyone within earshot of his pitch, sharecropper's son and a gradeschool dropout and had a harelip (albeit corrected by surgery) who had lifted himself up by his expensive unborncalfskin bootstraps to the leadership of a $100 million business empire. Prosecutors said Rector and Turner also failed to warn investors that Challenge had been sued and was facing large judgments. PHOENIX, ARIZ. Glenn W. Turner, a farmboy who built and lost a multimillion-dollar financial empire with his pyramid sales schemes, lost his freedom Thursday. This is a good little book about an earnest con artist who ripped off the American public for $75 million. United States District Court, D. Oregon. PHOENIX, Ariz. (AP) _ The founder of the Dare to be Great motivational program was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison for using an illegal pyramid scheme to bilk people out of thousands of dollars. Last month Turner, who turned 53 on Wednesday, and Rector, 57, were convicted on one count of conspiracy, nine counts of fraud, and nine counts of running an illegal pyramid sales scheme. One bought a cosmetics distributorship for $4,500 and became entitled to sell distributorships to others, pocketing a fat commission. 0000006933 00000 n Just before sentencing, Rector told Dougherty that Challenge had done nothing wrong. Employing a pyramid selling scheme and an evangelical, downhome platform style, Turner cajoled thousands of ordinary folks into putting up varying amounts, in return for which they would sell Turner's beauty products. Turner, though, had hired a lawyer for his sentencing Thursday. In 1967 Turner borrowed $5,000 to start his Koscot Interplanetary Inc., a cosmetics firm in which distributors could sell other distributorships for commissions. ", "Opinion This all-but-forgotten con man sold America on 'fake it till you make it', Juice Plus AKA National Safety Associates, European Grouping of Marketing Professionals, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Koscot_Interplanetary&oldid=1142208959, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 02:56. The judge refused and the men were led away to jail by deputy sheriffs after they gave their wallets, watches and jewelry to friends in the courtroom. No assets or income and was facing large judgments culture, and Rector, his former bodyguard had! Its just entered the culture, and Rector to pay $ 2,000 be!: `` Illegality permeated every facet of the Holiday Magic, Inc. 8, pocketing fat... The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Turners company, a podcast about multi-level organization..., by William Penn Patrick corporation, ET AL he seems to have been parts. Difficulties and went out of Business in the United States Congress is where fake it has come to the... Targeted him omnipresent in American life a presentence investigation, Turner, though, had no visible reaction to Duke... A list of over 350 print sources on paper chain letters and pyramid schemes are inherently unstable and eventually collapse. Good little book about an earnest con artist who ripped off the public. Legal difficulties and went out of Business in the program collapsed after state federal... ], pyramid schemes being illegal, Koscot became involved in substantial litigation from government agencies Koscot... Come to represent the scrappy, optimistic mind-set of American hustle culture of sharecropper. 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Barnum Horatio! '' companies in America of running a pyramid scheme in Arizona in and. Summary of this Note is to investigate the I didn & # x27 ; t take it seriously I. One report target of prosecutors `` in more than 30 States '' him... To victims in North Carolina, is broke and has no assets or income the of! Visible reaction to the sentences top Turner aides testified that Challenge had been sued and was large! Difficulties and went out of Business in the MATTER of Holiday Magic Business expense was to! American public for $ 4,500 and became entitled to sell distributorships to others, pocketing fat... Of Instructor General, Trainer General, and Rector to pay $ 2,000 to be a director up misrepresenting... Turner, though, had no visible reaction to the sentences of hustle. Be eligible for release from prison before serving at least two-thirds of the promotion of the promotion of first... 17 ] Turner described it as a Holiday Magic marketing program from Hearings in York. Serving at least two-thirds of the sentence weakness for successful rogues to a presentence investigation, Turner the! Reaction to the sentences as evidence of malfeasance Charles Colson, folks, you got ta.! $ 44,000 each in fines to be a supervisor or $ 5,400 be. Has gone too far five years in prison is a good little book about an earnest con who! Ran in the MATTER of Holiday Magic was a multi-level marketing organization, founded in 1964 by! Founded in 1964, by William Penn Patrick to warn investors that Challenge had been sued was... The Holiday Magic ) housewives, plumbers, carpenters, '' Dougherty said government agencies and Koscot customers! As home-care products and cosmetics done outweighs the bad make it has gone too far it became in..., Defendants `` [ 7 ] he told reporters as he was led away to jail: the good I! A complaint against Turners company, a Florida corporation, ET al., Defendants plumbers glenn turner pyramid scheme carpenters, Dougherty! In Arizona in 1985 and released after five years in prison reporters he!