Helluva find there, Anon.
Part 1 of 2
Article on Keith Raniere of NXIVM from 2003 in Forbes written by Michael Freedman.
sauce: https:// www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/1013/088.html#3ebf77de1853
Lots of names worthy of further digging. Copy / pastad for those who don't want to have to sign in to read the article.
Title: "Cult of Personality"
Keith Raniere's devoted followers say he is one of the smartest and most ethical people alive. They describe him as a soft-spoken, humble genius who can diagnose societal ills with remarkable clarity. They say his teachings as an inspirational executive coach can empower some of the most successful people in the world to attain ever higher levels of status and money. Why, his program can even cure ailments like diabetes and scoliosis.
Some 3,700 people have flocked to Raniere, 43, and Executive Success Programs, the business he created in 1998. Prompted by a potent word-of-mouth network, they include Sheila Johnson, cofounder of Black Entertainment Television; Antonia C. Novello, a former U.S. surgeon general; Stephen Cooper, acting chief executive of Enron; the Seagram fortune's Edgar Bronfman Sr. and two of his daughters; and Ana Cristina Fox, daughter of the Mexican president. Raniere's disciples say his methods sharpen their focus and give them keener insight into the motivations of others. "It's like a practical M.B.A.," says one follower, Emiliano Salinas, son of a former president of Mexico.
Raniere, who has no M.B.A., has shrewdly cashed in on the high-profit fad of executive coaching, a booming multibillion-dollar market. It includes established firms and renowned individuals who promise–for a fee–to help people become better executives, improve productivity and navigate office politics. Well-known trainers like Marshall Goldsmith, professor Vijay Govindarajan of Dartmouth and Richard Leider charge from $25,000 a day to $100,000 for a half dozen sessions spread over 18 months. They teach executives how to change their "negative behaviors," to find what drives them and to divine the right goals (see box below).
Win Friends and Influence People
In selling himself as an executive coach, Keith Raniere has tapped into a mother lode of demand. Here are some of the most respected players in this multibillion-dollar industry.
DAVID ALLEN
Helps execs manage time, minimize stress.
Clients: Merck, General Mills.
Fee: $10,000 for two in-person meetings and two follow-up calls.
MARSHALL GOLDSMITH
Helps leaders achieve a "positive change in behavior, for themselves, their people and their teams."
Clients: 3M, UBS, Philips.
Fee: More than $100,000 for an 18-month assignment, or $17,000 a day.
VIJAY GOVINDARAJAN
Dartmouth professor helps executives "prepare for tomorrow's business realities."
Clients: Standard & Poor's, Pitney Bowes.
Fee: $20,000 to $35,000 a day.
RICHARD LEIDER
"We help people put purpose to work in their personal and professional lives." Book: Whistle While You Work.
Clients: Helps executives at places like American Express as they move into new positions.
Fee: $75,000 to $100,000 for 6 to 12 months.
GARY RANKER
Helps executives understand "corporate culture" and navigate office politics.
Clients: New York City accounting and >Wall Street firms.
Fee: $100,000+ for a 6-month to 1-year program.
-M.F.
But some people see a darker and more manipulative side to Keith Raniere. Detractors say he runs a cult-like program aimed at breaking down his subjects psychologically, separating them from their families and inducting them into a bizarre world of messianic pretensions, idiosyncratic language and ritualistic practices. "I think it's a cult," says Bronfman. Though he once took a course and endorsed the program, he hasn't talked to his daughters in months and has grown troubled over the long hours and emotional and financial investment they have been devoting to Raniere's group. One daughter, Clare, 24, has lent the program $2 million, at 2.5% interest, the senior Bronfman says (she denies this).
Part 2 of 2
sauce: https:// www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/1013/088.html#3ebf77de1853
Article on Keith Raniere continued… I clipped some of the copied text out in the middle, but it's in the images. Here's the end:
Confidentiality is sacrosanct. Students must sign a nondisclosure agreement and vow never to talk about what they learn. If they violate it, they are "compromising inner honesty and integrity." In August Raniere sued a woman for, the suit claimed, divulging information. When a Forbes reporter asked to audit a session, the group's lawyer presented a three-page confidentiality agreement forbidding the magazine to write about virtually anything seen or heard at the event. The reporter declined (and later was allowed to make a brief visit to the Albany site).
It is all too intense for some. After sleepless nights and 17-hour days of workshops, a 28-year-old woman from a prominent Mexican family says she began to have hallucinations and had a mental breakdown at her hotel near Albany. She went to a hospital and required psychiatric treatment. Her psychiatrist, Carlos Rueda, says in the last three years he has treated two others who have taken the class; one had a psychotic episode.
Stephanie Franco, a New Jersey social worker, spent $2,160 plus expenses for a five-day class in Albany at the suggestion of her half-brother, an executive at a family apparel company (Lollytogs and other brands). Other relatives joined, but Franco became concerned about the group's rituals and its emphasis on recruitment. The family hired Rick A. Ross, a Jersey City, N.J. specialist in cults, to intervene, to no avail. He put information about the organization on his Web site–and promptly got sued by Raniere and Salzman, who accuse him of copyright violations. In September an Albany federal judge denied the organization's initial request that Ross remove the information.
The family also hired John Hochman, a forensic psychiatrist who teaches at UCLA, who pored over the Executive Success manual and describes it thusly: "It is a kingdom of sorts, ruled by a Vanguard, who writes his own dictionary of the English language, has his own moral code and the ability to generate taxes on subjects by having them participate in his seminars. It is a kingdom with no physical borders, but with psychological borders–influencing how his subjects spend their time, socialize, and think." In the lawsuit Raniere and Salzman made similar claims regarding alleged copyright violations against Hochman, as well as against Stephanie Franco.
Raniere and Salzman say they are careful to avoid accepting troubled students. In their world, those who question Raniere's views simply don't get it. He speaks slowly and methodically, with digression upon digression, using words he has defined for himself and then pausing to explain each term. You might think it pure genius. Or maybe horse manure.
Still, many disciples swear by Vanguard. Several students have achieved a high enough rank to qualify for a 20% commission on their new recruits. But most students are in it for the coaching. Sara Bronfman, Edgar Sr.'s 26-year-old daughter, says she started taking classes at the end of 2002 after her marriage fell apart. She was living in Belgium and heard about the class from a family friend. She marveled at how much Raniere was able to teach her. Sara has since been promoted to the rank of coach; she now works full time for Executive Success.
Sara and other devotees are talking about erecting centers in Australia and elsewhere. Raniere has lined up private investors to pay for a $15 million, 75,000-square-foot building near Albany. As originally designed, the building was to emerge from a stone foundation under a six-sided, glass roof. It is meant to be a tribute to civilization–another step in the mission to spread Vanguard's gospel around the world. "I don't know how much you know about my family," Sara Bronfman says, admiring the silky cloth around her chest, "but, coming from a family where I've never had to earn anything before in my life, [it] was a very, very moving experience for me to be awarded this yellow sash. It was the first thing that I had earned on just my merits."
An interesting related note, David Hogg's FBIdiot father worked on the Bulger case as well. An Anon posted shots of files from the Bulger case back in the day that were released. I thought I took a screenshot of those files… lemme dig for a few.
Your efforts have been greatly appreciated. Can't take over for baking, but wishing you a good night's rest.
Sorry Anon, looks like I effed up and didn't screenshot it. I'll take a look through the Notables to see if it was snagged.
Not in the Notables. Shite. I don't know if it was from the FBI Vault - was just starting to peruse there myself. The images that the Anon posted with Kevin Hogg's name looked like official FBI docs and IIRC, they had a "declassified" or similar inked stamp on each of the pages…. don't hold me to that though. I was about 5 hours deep when I saw the post.
You magnificent fag, you! I was hoping you were here lurking and could bail me out and stop my frantic diggings. Thank you, Anon!