[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. uOf2v]IM{7\~CPWb=sVX\IQ2ec )^y&wM9t>5YO! https://www.nytimes.com/1977/02/20/archives/dare-to-be-great-a-sincere-con-man.html. 0000004799 00000 n the Glenn Turner modification is a good one. 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. A technicality of the law is what got me.[1], Turner passed away in his home in Lake Mary, Florida, on 8 January 2020[13] with a much lower profile than during the peak of his success.[14]. Mr. Turner's business, osten sibly, is cosmetics, the keystone product in a bizarre conglom erate called Glenn W. Turner Enterprises, Inc. But as Turners saga shows, theres a dark side baked into the fake it mentality: the fakers who attempt to win success through fraud, then never make good on their promises. Turner, 53, created a $300 million empire in the 1970s by selling distributorships in his Dare to be Great and Koscot International companies. Jurors found them innocent of 27 counts of securities violations involving Challenge Inc., a motivational company. 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. [7] He told reporters as he was led away to jail: The good that I have done outweighs the bad. He seems to have been equal parts P. T. Barnum, Horatio Alger, snake oil salesman and evangelist. Our intent was to help people. [19] Tobias poked fun at the pyramid nature of the organization, in his book The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need, telling readers to be wary of "..Holiday Magic - where the big money to be made was not in selling cosmetics, but in selling franchises to sell franchises (to sell franchises).."[20] Howe wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle that Holiday Magic was "..one of the largest of all pyramid schemes.."[21], Holiday Magic is used as an example in graduate level criminal justice coursework to analyze the nature of corporate scams. We need a reset, and to find a way to once again prioritize and reward diligent, honest effort over faux success. 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. No surprise, trust is cratering. 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! Assistant U. S. Attorneys Daniel C. Silva, Mark W. Pletcher, Lisa Sanniti and Carl Brooker. 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. The good that I have done outweighs the bad. In 1979, his fortune gone, he attempted a comeback with another motivational company called Challenge, Inc.,[6] which led to more legal difficulties. The promised El Dorado, however, was reserved for those who put up the requisite amount for becoming distributors; this gave them the right to sell distributorships to others, retaining a healthy percentage of the fee. DeMuro, RG. In the Arizona case, Turner represented himself -- a stark change from the days in the early '70s when renowned defense attorney F. Lee Bailey represented him in his Koscot dealings. Turner had a talent for making people believe in him. But his empire collapsed after state and federal investigators accused him of operating pyramid schemes that bilked thousands of investors. U.S. District Court documents in Orlando indicate there are dozens of other Turner creditors, but it is unlikely they will be paid from any proceeds from the Castles sale, officials said. ". 0000004278 00000 n In August 1972, he was charged with "86 counts of sale of unregistered securities and failing to register as a dealer". . . 235 37 Turner would emerge under a banner reading "Dare to Be Great" and vacuum up money through a pyramid marketing scheme based on selling motivational tapes containing the secret of getting rich. Turner and his best. 0000000016 00000 n All these characters in bright red polyester doubleknits, with rhinestone flag lapel pins, dashing around the country making people hum, MMMMMMMM MONEY!. "It is hard for me to believe . ", Nevertheless, Dougherty said, the men deserved prison terms because "some of these victims suffered great emotional and financial harm by your actions.". Senate. Pyramid Schemes Versus Ponzi Schemes The labels Ponzi scheme and pyramid scheme are often used interchangeably to describe specific forms of investment fraud where sustainability depends on the influx of new "investors" to the scheme. Before the IRS gets its share, Seminole County has the right to collect $16,900 in unpaid property taxes for 1987, said county Tax Collector G. Troy Ray. Koscot and Dare to be Great grew rapidly and Turner became famous. endobj Even as Turner attracted increasingly negative attention in 1972, he was arrested on 86 counts of violating securities laws the phrase gained popularity in a more earnest context within Alcoholics Anonymous. He was featured in an 11-page article in Life magazine in 1971,[8] and was reportedly worth $300 million at the time. 0000037159 00000 n In a fitting finale, Turner, stopped for good and all, is saved by a showy evangelist from New Orleans. 0000045154 00000 n [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". I have remorse for these people that did not benefit by what we set out to do. It is apparent from this Court's findings of fact that the defendants are promoting a type of scheme commonly known as a pyramid operation. "Summary of Testimony and Findings and Conclusions Resulting from Hearings in New York on Drug Law. [15] Larry Stephen Huff, another key individual in the company, served two years in a Federal Prison, for charges related to a Ponzi scam (unrelated to Holiday Magic).[21]. Just before he was sentenced, Turner told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bernard Dougherty, "My intent has never been to hurt but to help. 0000037334 00000 n House Committee on Small Business, 1991. Well, it was never really worth all that, and when blizzard of Federal and state charges of fraud, securities irregularity and other actions drove him nearly into bankruptcy, he ended up selling one of his companies for $15,000. "There have been a lot of books written about Mr. Turner," said Barnett Lotstein, the assistant attorney general who prosecuted the case. The Arizona case marked the first felony conviction for Turner, who built a fortune around his Orlando-based pyramid sales 20 years ago. 0000045154 00000 n %PDF-1.6 % Bids on the Castle property will be advertised over the next few weeks to notify any other bidders of the pending sale. 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. 0000031956 00000 n [1] In 1971, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Koscot, charging restraint of trade. endstream endobj 166 0 obj <>stream startxref The purpose of this Note is to investigate the 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. 2/10/75, p. 38) and Bestline . But perhaps the most accurate description of Turner's victims was that of some cynical lawyers at the Securities and Exchange Commission who referred to them as Thalidomides.. They were convicted last month on charges of conspiracy, fraud and illegal pyramid sales in connection with their Challenge Inc. motivational program. Patrick bought all of the cosmetics supplies for $16,250, and founded Holiday Magic, Inc. After the purchase, Patrick began selling distributorships in his new company. "The Role of Small Business in Franchising, Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Minority Small Business. 0000031956 00000 n Unfortunately, the multi-level cosmetic company became entangled in numerous legal difficulties and went out of business in the . No. startxref 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. 0000001791 00000 n Glenn W. Turner, 53, was sentenced along with Edward G. Rechtor by Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Dougherty, who said he had received scores of letters on behalf of the two Goldenrod, Fla., men. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge. [28] The Mind Dynamics course was described as providing "a means of achieving personal success through the conscious use of the subconscious mind". Today, fake it till you make it has come to represent the scrappy, optimistic mind-set of American hustle culture. 256 pages. 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. endobj 1975, P. 304., Hearings on S. 483, 1900, 1927, and 1961, and H.R. %%EOF United States House of Representatives. 0000023584 00000 n 0000001769 00000 n Prosecutors said Challenge officials misled investors by telling them they would not have to put up their own money. A few of their supporters cried as the sentences were read. 0000005276 00000 n I have often wondered if Amway distributors borrowed this terminology from Turners group, or was it Turner who confiscated these words and phrases from some Amway distributors? Kerns wrote. Charges were then dropped against Bailey. But what made him "really rich" was reportedly Koscot Interplanetary[6] (Koscot stood for "Kosmetics for the Communities of Tomorrow"). WASHINGTON, May 17 The Securities and Exchange Commission asked a Federal District Court today to halt the sale of Glenn W. Turner's pyramid franchising scheme on the ground that it is. See the article in its original context from. 58.95. 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. 0000008799 00000 n (unrelated to Holiday Magic). 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. Donate [12] The indictment said that Bailey had appeared in a film made for Turner's organization and had appeared with Turner at several rallies. 164 0 obj <>stream But Turner seems to have genuinely convinced himself he was offering the little people a splendid opportunity. The companies collapsed in 1973 under lawsuits filed by investors and investigations by state and federal agencies. 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. %%EOF [3] An estimated 70 companies (as of 1972)[4] were owned by Turner (owned by Glenn W. Turner Enterprises, Inc.):[1] Dare to Be Great, which sold motivational and self-improvement courses, and also functioned as a multi-level marketing company;[5] Turner had also briefly worked for Holiday Magic, another multi-level marketing company that sold home-care products and cosmetics, and through related companies sold self-improvement programs. [22] According to the Duke Law Journal: "Illegality permeated every facet of the promotion of the Holiday Magic marketing program. A list of over 350 print sources on paper chain letters and pyramid schemes. ,'nuG>wP6T7:"K3'G9U The Challenge program was similar to Turners Dare to be Great program, which won him national attention during the late 1960s and early 1970s, the state attorney generals office said. 2(a) OF THE CLAYTON ACT Docket 8834 (1974), MLM Law - Lawyer Grimes & Reese PLLC - Attorney Specializing in Multilevel Marketing - Marshall v. Holiday Magic, Inc. (1977) 550 F.2d 1173, Door to Door Selling, Pyramid Selling, Multilevel Marketing, "L.A. Con Artist Behind Alleged Electricity Scam: Pyramid scheme linked to coming deregulation", "First Amendment Protection for Commercial Advertising: The New Constitutional Doctrine", "The Chaos of Multilevel Marketing and Pyramid Sales Laws: A Federal Remedy", In Re Koscot Interplanetary Inc., 86 F.T.C. [5] Though he claimed Leadership Dynamics was a separate company, "..in no way related to Holiday Magic, Inc.", Gene Church pointed out many inconsistencies in this statement, in his book The Pit: A Group Encounter Defiled. But that came later. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Within a few years Turner's enterprises had made an estimated $300 million. torture involving a mouse that was supposed to eat a recalcitrant witness's heart (Good Lord! 0000006135 00000 n It is here that Mr. Maxa shows unusual ability to compress tedious and protracted legal wrangles (one trial lasted nine months) into an absorbing account. [3] 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. Illustrated. And we need to be less credulous and stop falling for the next shiny thing. But Dougherty denied bond and ordered both men to begin serving their sentences immediately. 0 In 2006 he published a book (To Beirut and Back - An American in the Middle East) dealing, in part, with his experiences. 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