Amway Agrees to Largest-Ever $225M FTC MLM Settlement

Amway Corp. and affiliates World Wide Group and Leadership Team Development will pay $225 million to resolve allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and Washington state that they used deceptive earnings claims and high-pressure tactics to recruit participants. Regulators alleged that recruits were encouraged to buy unwanted, difficult-to-sell products, falsely report sales and pursue recruitment-driven compensation rather than genuine retail sales. The settlement is the largest monetary recovery in an FTC action against a multilevel marketing company, with nearly all of the money expected to provide relief to affected consumers, including potentially thousands of Washington residents. Amway must also change its practices, including monitoring product sales, discouraging inventory stockpiling, auditing records and limiting certain training fees.