In January 2025, Dave Grimaldi took charge of the Direct Selling Association, which represents the controversial multilevel marketing (MLM) industry. With renewed political dynamics under the second Trump administration, Grimaldi expressed enthusiasm for collaboration, referencing Trumpâs personal success in direct selling. The article explores the MLMâs historical ties to pyramid schemes, tracing back to 1945 when Casselberry and Mytinger merged Ponzi scheme mechanics into product selling, creating a hierarchy of sellers and buyers, thus establishing the fundamental MLM structure that continues today.
The modern pyramid scheme was invented in 1945 in Long Beach, California, by two men: Stanford-educated pop psychologist William Casselberry, and Lee Mytinger.
Their plan smuggled the mechanics of the Ponzi scheme into door-to-door selling, involving a hierarchy of participants called a downline.
#multilevel-marketing #pyramid-scheme #dave-grimaldi #trump-administration #direct-selling-association
Collection
[
|
...
]