Category: NXIVM
Sunday August 6, 2006 NXIVM Woman claims stressful, probing conditions used at leadership seminar in Colonie Math teacher Jane Doe wanted to control her temper better so she could one day become a principal. So at the advice of her father, the 28-year-old Philadelphia resident drove to Nxivm in Colonie for a five-day seminar expecting enlightenment and career advice. But by the first evening, Doe says she ran out of the personal development company’s New Karner Road office and left the Capital Region in tears. She says the course, held June 10, consisted of 14-hour classes, probing personal questions and
Monday July 24, 2006 NXIVM We took a skeptical look at an executive training firm called NXIVM (pronounced nexium), run by a charismatic leader named Keith Raniere. Among Raniere’s acolytes were Sara and Clare Bronfman, daughters of Seagram billionaire Edgar Bronfman Sr. and half-sisters of Edgar Bronfman Jr., chief of Warner Music. Himself a former Raniere client, Bronfman Sr. had turned on Raniere, labeling the coaching program a “cult.” Since our story the Bronfman sisters’ entanglement with NXIVM and its executives has deepened. According to two sources, the sisters recently took out a line of credit from Citigroup and used their trust as collateral. One
Thursday November 3, 2005 NXIVM Company attorney denies allegations; neighbors concerned about home HALFMOON — A former Nxivm Corp. insider recently became the first to publicly condemn the secretive human development company, while unauthorized construction on a $400,000 Halfmoon home has raised local concerns. The construction on the home recently purchased for Nancy Salzman, Nxivm’s president, has worried neighbors, some of whom opposed construction of the company’s proposed $15 million headquarters nearby. Separately, Joseph O’Hara, an Albany consultant and former Nxivm official whom the company sued in August, has turned on it. His statements make him the first company official to publicly join with critics
Tuesday September 13, 2005 NXIVM Judge refuses to freeze holdings of businessman who is being sued by company ALBANY — A federal judge denied a motion on Monday by Nxivm Corp. to freeze the assets of Albany businessman Joe O’Hara, and the company withdrew its lawsuit against him and submitted it in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. Nxivm and 11 staffers alleged in a suit filed in August in U.S. District Court in Albany that O’Hara, the former owner of sports teams in Albany, unlawfully acted as their attorney, and used the position to improperly acquire $317,000 in payments and $2 million in loans from
Thursday August 25, 2005 NXIVM Self-awareness training firm, 11 other plaintiffs allege former attorney bilked $2.5M ALBANY — A local company that offers self-awareness training for professionals has sued an Albany businessman, alleging he defrauded it and several wealthy members through racketeering schemes that he allegedly masterminded while acting as the company’s attorney. In the latest lawsuit filed by Nxivm (pronounced “NEX-ee-um”) of Colonie, the company and 11 plaintiffs charge that Joseph O’Hara, the former owner of the semi-pro Capital Region Pontiacs basketball team, cheated them of roughly $2.5 million in payments and loans from 2003-05. Acting as Nxivm’s attorney and adviser, the suit states,
Friday December 3, 2004 NXIVM Company had sued researcher over cult label, criticism on Web ALBANY — The U.S. Supreme Court denied without elaboration an appeal to review a case involving a Colonie human potential training company, free speech and the Internet. The top court refused this week to hear from Nxivm, which hired the Washington law firm Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood to have allegations that the company is a cult struck from the Web site of cult researcher Rick Ross. Cult FAQ CultFAQ.org: Frequently Asked Questions About Cults, Sects, and Related Issues Includes definitions of terms (e.g. cult, sect, anticult, countercult, new religious
Sunday October 24, 2004 NXIVM NXIVM, an American organisation that has lost two court cases in the US against a website which it claims portrayed it as a cult, has begun running executive coaching programmes in Ireland. The training courses are run by an associated company called Executive Success Programs (ESP). ESP is fronted in Ireland by Sara Bronfman, daughter of Edgar Bronfman, whose family has made a fortune from the Seagram drinks empire. Nxivm (pronounced Nex-ee-um) has held introductory meetings at the Burlington hotel in Dublin over the past two weeks. According to one person who attended, the gatherings attracted twentysomethings from well-to-do Irish
Friday April 23, 2004 NXIVM Albany– Training company challenged allegations that it’s a cult Allegations that a Colonie-based human potential company is a cult can stay online, a federal court has affirmed. Nxivm (pronounced NEX-ee-um), which offers human potential seminars, alleged that Rick Ross of New Jersey, a “cult deprogrammer,” published critical commentary of its program after obtaining information through copyright infringement. In September, a federal district judge in Albany denied its request for an injunction to remove the information from a Web site. This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City rejected Nxivm’s appeal of that decision,
Monday February 2, 2004 NXIVM Once a dynamic overachiever, a woman’s world deteriorated after she took classes offered by a Halfmoon-based group Kristin Marie Snyder’s life as an “Espian” lasted just four months. From November 2002 to February 2003, the 35-year-old Alaskan immersed herself in Executive Success Programs (ESP), the teachings of Halfmoon residents Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman. She attended four ESP “human potential” courses in Anchorage, and traveled to Halfmoon and Colonie to meet ESP leaders on their home turf. An overachiever, Snyder believed ESP would improve her career, personal life and outlook, just as advertised. But her family and police say that
Monday October 20, 2003 NXIVM People in today’s technologically advanced society have settled into comfortable jobs and lifestyles with little or no challenge, resulting in a generation that’s still unhappy despite having more wealth and leisure time than any civilization in history, she said. Executive Success ‘s goal is to make people want to achieve more, to become better personally and professionally. Salzman, 49, a former nurse, said she spent 20 years studying human behavior, frustrated that she couldn’t measure her work in quantifiable ways. Then she met Keith Raniere, 43, owner of a former multi-level marketingpyramid) business that made $33 million annually before going
