Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 16:28, 24 May 2011

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (April 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Keith Raniere is an entrepreneur, philosopher, and the creator of NXIVM, a business offering self-improvement seminars which employ Raniere's Rational Inquiry® method to help clients pursue their own paths to self-discovery and foster their full potential as individuals. In addition to NXIVM, Rainere offers additional classes, Executive Success Programs (ESP), that are geared towards business professionals.

In 1988, a test developed by New York philosopher Ron Hoeflin and printed in Omni magazine placed his IQ at between 188 and 194 (Hoeflin confirms the result). The score is said to have landed him in the 1989 Guinness Book of World Records in the category of "Highest IQ".

Background

The son of New York City adman and a mother who taught ballroom dancing, he grew up in the bedroom community of Suffern, N.Y. His father, James, has said he exhibited early athletic gifts, tying the New York high school record for the 100-yard dash and becoming East Coast judo champion at 12. Home movies show a young boy in martial-arts garb dominating his opponents with quiet, unfussy aggression. By 13, he was competent in third-year university level math and had become a computer programming professional.

He arrived in the Albany area at 16 or so—about the time his mother died—to attend the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Contemporary local news accounts say he earned a triple-major in math, physics and biology, with minors in psychology and philosophy—an academic feat that briefly made him a local celebrity (the accounts gushed that he slept just two hours a night, rarely attended class and could spell "homogenized" as a toddler after seeing it on a milk carton).

By the age of 27, Raniere was already a member of Mensa, a high-IQ society with a minimum requirement at the one-in-a-million level. Raniere gained recognition for answering correctly all but two questions on a 48-question, self- administered test, in which it is stated that Raniere "moved up to the rarified one-in-10-million level."

Business Background

In 1990 Raniere applied his theory to his new business, Consumers' Buyline, a networking company near Albany that promised lucrative commissions to old customers for recruiting new ones. Raniere says by the end of 1993, Consumers' Buyline had sold $1 billion in goods and services employed 80 people. He claims he was worth $50 million. In 1996, Raniere was the subject of an investigation by the Office Of The Attorney General of New York State that led to the closing of Consumer buyline. A consent order went on to impose a $40000 fine and barred Raniere from ever operating a chain distributor scheme in the State of New York.

In 1991, Raniere created another networking company, National Health Network, which sold vitamins.

In 1997, Raniere met the woman who would become his business partner, Nancy Salzman.

In 1998, Salzman incorporated in Delaware the company that launched Executive Success Programs and applied for patents on Raniere's behavior-modification "technology". This company is now known as NXIVM. In 2007, Keith Raniere conceptualized the Ethical Humanitarian Foundation, a private, not-for-profit foundation supporting endeavors that promote embracing humanity, developing ethics, and moving humankind towards a more noble civilization. In August 2008, he conceptualized the World Ethical Foundations Consortium (WEFC), a non-profit initiative dedicated to the building of a compassionate, ethical humanity.

Keith Raniere's Organizations

NXIVM

NXIVM (Template:Pron-en), is an Albany-based self-help group which offers classes and seminars designed to allow its clients to pursue their own paths to self-discovery and foster their full potential as individuals utilizing NXVIM's methods, known as Rational Inquiry® NXVIM also offers additional classes geared toward business professionals called "Executive Success Programs" (ESP) which has served an estimated 3,700 people. NXVIM also pursues various endeavors involving the creation of community-building spaces housing athletic, spa, and health and wellness facilities. NXIVM has been called a cult by a reporter from The New York Post. Responding to such claims Raniere has stated that "there's nothing in his operation that makes it a cult, and indeed, many enrollees see Executive Success as a good coaching program and nothing more.

Executive Success Programs, Inc.

The Executive Success Programs, Inc. company is designed to advance human potential and ethics through various programs that are practical applications of Keith Raniere's patent-pending technology, Rational Inquiry®. To date, over eight thousand individuals from more than thirty-three countries have participated in these programs.

Jness

Jness describes itself as "providing unique experiential education for women to explore who they are and their role in today's world." In clarifying what it provides the organization claims that it likewise "offers women infrastructures for networking, resource sharing and community building."

Rainbow Cultural Garden

A highly innovative child development program designed to promote children's cultural, linguistic, emotional, physical and problem-solving potential. The program's unprecedented success has drawn the attention of child development experts, private investors and dignitaries from the United States and Mexico.

Rainbow Cultural Gardens was the subject of a critical story in The Albany Times Union in August 2010 in regard to the school’s first student Gaelen “Some child development experts, briefed on Gaelen's situation, raised questions. Lily Filmore, a retired University of California at Berkeley language professor, said the program sounds "highly unusual" and could be confusing to the child.”

Ultima®

A claims to be a highly experiential, multidisciplinary program designed to advance the full range of human expression in all its various forms. Created by Keith Raniere, Ultima® is an application of Rational Inquiry® and is implemented by his coauthor and colleague Ivy Nevares through her company, Nataraja Center for Movement Arts.

In Lak’ Ech

A civil movement in Mexico seeking to transform violence with compassion. Its presence in various parts of the country has already reclaimed areas once held in the grip of violence. In these areas, for instance the La Condesa sector of Mexico City, families are once again able to walk their neighborhood streets without fear.

A Cappella Innovations

A non-profit organization which is dedicated to creating public awareness and enjoyment of music by "fostering open, genuine expression and exploring its application to humanity, civilization and ethics." The organization has held two high-profile public events, inviting select college a cappella groups to join together during weekend programs providing groundbreaking workshops and master classes with experts from the a cappella and entertainment industries.

Ethical Humanitarian Foundation

The Ethical Humanitarian Foundation is a private, not-for-profit foundation supporting endeavors that promote embracing humanity, developing ethics and moving humankind towards a more noble civilization.

World Ethical Foundations Consortium

The World Ethical Foundations Consortium (WEFC) is a highly directed, non-profit initiative promoting the understanding and application of compassionate ethics in the world community. Its distinguished members are individuals demonstrating a high degree of ethics and a commitment to humanity—compassionate ethics—and an expertise in at least one community branch.

References

1. ^ Kohler, Nicholas (9/9/10). "How to lose $100 million". Macleans. Retrieved 26 April 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. "Executive Success Programs". NXIVM. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
3. "NXIVM". Retrieved 19 April 2011.
4. "Website Fundacion etica humanitaria". Fundacion Etica Humanitaria. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
5. ^ "FORBES". FORBES,The Best Business Schools by Michael Freedman. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
6. Keeney, Irene Gardner (26 June 1988). "Troy Man Has a Lot on His Mind". Times-Union. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
7. "Consent Order and Judgment - Consumers Buyline, Inc. Et. Al". Retrieved 22 May 2011.
8. Fairbanks, Phil. "Local developer tangled in legal battle". Retrieved 31 March 2011.
9. "NXIVM Personal Development". Retrieved 31 March 2011.
10. "NXIVM Executive Success Programs". Retrieved 31 March 2011.
11. Freedman, Michael (13 October 2003). "Cult of Personality". Forbes. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
12. "Keith Raniere Organizations". Retrieved 22 April 2011.
13. ^ "Keith Raniere Organizations". Retrieved 21 April 2011.
14. Odato, James (3 August 2010). "NXIVM critic's plea over child gets little action". Times Union. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
15. "A Cappella Innovations". A Cappella Innovations. Retrieved 14 May 2011.

Template:Persondata

• Misplaced Pages neutral point of view disputes from April 2011
• 1950 births
• People from New York City
• American businesspeople
• Living people