October 21, 2006  Tying Up Loose Ends -- Pyramid Scheme, Part IV
I hope this will be my last entry about TEAM. I have enjoyed
dissecting this fraudulent business, but I want to write about
other things too! In the first three parts of this series, I
described my encounter with Darren (notice that I no longer
refer to him as a friend) and his pyramid scheme, TEAM, which is
a subsidiary of Quixtar, Amway's internet-based sister company.
Today I just want to wrap up by discussing a few things I didn't
manage to get to before.  I have explained why TEAM is evil and
why it creeps me out, but I haven't quite explained why it is a
pyramid scheme. To get there, let me start with Amway. Amway was
founded in 1959 right here in Michigan by Jay van Andel and Rich
DeVos (father of our current Republican gubernatorial candidate,
Dick DeVos). For evidence of the company's success, look no
further than the city of Grand Rapids, which appears to have
been built entirely with Amway money. Amway works in much the
same way as T