Bill Britt
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Bill Britt is one of the most successful Independent Business Owners (IBOs) in the Amway/Quixtar business. Together with his wife Peggy Britt, he was Founders Crown Ambassador as of 2004 and, as of 2007, was serving as a Presidents Cabinet Representative on the Independent Business Owners Association International (IBOA International) Board.[1]
Bill Britt registered with Amway in 1970, in the downline of Dexter Yager. In the Amway business every new IBO is sponsored by an existing IBO. The downline of an IBO refers to the people sponsored by him, people sponsored by those he sponsored, and so on. Bonuses to an IBO are based on sales of his own as well as his those of his downlines. Britt was a Diamond as of 1973, Crown Ambassador as of 1996 and Founders Crown Ambassador as of 2004.[citation needed] In 1981 he split from the organization of Dexter Yager and started his own motivational organization called the Britt World Wide (BWW).[citation needed] Britt is one of the most well known IBOs in the business. Amway co-founder Richard DeVos in his book Compassionate Capitalism [1] says "Britt has gone on to become one of the greatest mentors in the history of our company".
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[edit] Britt World Wide
The Britt World Wide (BWW), like several other IBO Organizations helps Amway/Quixtar IBOs in Britt's downline to grow their businesses, by providing them with training and motivation through books, tapes and seminars. A big number of people in his downline are in the downline of Indian Diamonds Kanti & Hemi Gala.[citation needed] They have now broken away from BWW and started their own motivational organization called Winners International.
A common characteristic of several IBO Support Organizations, including BWW, is that besides the bonuses on sale of Amway products, IBOs receive bonuses on sale of motivational products like books, tapes, seminar tickets etc.[citation needed] There are allegations that most income of some high level IBOs comes from this support business rather than the Amway business.[2] Other allegations of cult-like relationships being created in these organizations are made by exit-counselor Steve Hassan on his website "Freedom of Mind".
[edit] Controversies and Lawsuits
Amway/Quixtar and some high level IBOs like Britt came under attack due to the Dateline NBC investigation regarding the motivation business and cult-like activities.[3] Britt and Yager were the two main IBOs named in the Forbes magazine article criticizing the business for its cult-like characteristics and for making a few people rich at the cost of the rest.[4]
In 2003 he was named as a victim in what was described as the largest financial fraud case in North Carolina history.[5]
Britt and Yager were served a class action lawsuit by five former IBOs who accused them of making false claims about potential income of IBOs, importance of motivational materials and links between Amway and other large corporations.[6][7]
In the 1998 Woods v. Amway case number CV98-511 in the Circuit Court of Lauderdale County, Alabama, Amway and several of its IBOs including Britt are accused by David Woods and Yan Woods of fraud with the motivation business, breach of contract in Amway enforcing its rules, civil conspiracy in the tools business, and tortuous interference with business relationships.[citation needed]
The Britt/Yager line of sponsorship within Amway was also the subject of a 1983 Amway Interdepartmental Memo by executive Ed Postma criticizing their business building methods and associated support companies.[citation needed]
[edit] Separation
The Burlington Times News reported that Peggy Britt filed for a restraining order against her husband saying she feared he will throw their money away on fraudulent investment schemes. According to the restraining order, the couple separated on November 21, 2003.[8]
Bill Britt resigned from the IBOA International board in 2004 saying he is going into retirement.[citation needed] Bill Britt is now back on the IBOA International board and has also appeared together with Peggy Britt in business seminars.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ IBOAI site. Retrieved on January 10, 2007.
- ^ Dateline NBC.
- ^ Dateline NBC.
- ^ Klebniov, Paul. "The Power of Positive Inspiration", Forbes Magazine, 1991-12-9.
- ^ Weisbecker, lee. "Scam goes down in Raleigh; exec loses $5M", Triangle Business Journal, 2003-8-8.
- ^ "Amway Faces Class Action", Time Out, 94-8-10.
- ^ "Vendors File Class Action Suit Against Amway", The Legal Intelligencer, 1994-10-2.
- ^ Hayhurst, Brandee. "Couple fights over assets", The Burlington Times-News, 2003-11-28.
