How a $400-billion industry manufactures millionaires out of your tuition payments.

• Rich Dad Poor Dad — background and sales figures: Wikipedia (Robert Kiyosaki); nearly 40 million copies sold as of 2017. Kiyosaki described his books as "advertisements for his higher-priced seminars."
• Rich Global LLC bankruptcy: Public bankruptcy filing, 2012. $26M in liabilities, $1.8M in assets. Ordered to pay $23.7M to The Learning Annex.
• Robert Kiyosaki — Ohio State warning: Ohio Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing issued a 2007 statement warning against illegal methods in Kiyosaki's seminars.
• Robert Kiyosaki — class action suit and CBC/WTAE investigations: Documented in Wikipedia and investigative reporting by CBC Canada and WTAE-TV.
• The 4-Hour Work Week — info product advocacy: Tim Ferriss, "The 4-Hour Work Week" (2007). Chapter on "Income Autopilot" — claimed info products had markups of "20-50x."
• Online learning market size: Global Market Insights (2023): $399B in 2022, projected $764B by 2030 at 14% CAGR. Grand View Research: $299.7B in 2024, projected $842.6B by 2030.
• Course completion rates — median 12.6%: Jordan K. (2015). "Massive Open Online Course Completion Rates Revisited." International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning. 221 courses, completion range 0.7%–52.1%, median 12.6%.
• Course completion 5–15% range: Multiple sources including Coursera and edX platform data. LearnStream (2025) analysis: 10–20% for self-paced paid programs.
• FTC v. Lurn (Anik Singal): FTC action, September 2023. $2.5M settlement. "Very few, if any consumers actually made money." Lurn received FTC Notice of Penalty Offenses in 2021 and continued deceptive practices.
• FTC v. IM Mastery Academy ($1.2B): FTC and Nevada AG, May 2025. 60% of customers stopped paying within one month, 90% dropped within six months. "Trainers" were salespeople without credentials.
• FTC v. RagingBull.com / Kyle Dennis: FTC, September 2023. Over $40M in consumer losses, Dennis personally pocketed $13.6M.
• FTC v. Online Trading Academy: FTC, February 2020 / September 2020 settlement. $370M+ in revenue. Company's own surveys showed most purchasers made little to no money. Instructors admitted they didn't make significant money trading.
• Growth Cave — $50M from consumers: FTC complaint; federal court temporarily halted operations.
• Ecommerce Empire Builders: FTC complaint; owner Peter Prusinowski banned from selling business opportunities, May 2025.
• FTC Bogus Money-Making Claims Rulemaking (ANPR): FTC, February 2022. Launched proceeding targeting false earnings claims by MLMs, for-profit colleges, and gig platforms.
• FTC MLM Income Disclosure Report (70 companies): FTC Staff Report, September 2024. Most participants earned $1,000 or less per year (<$84/month). In 17+ MLMs, most participants earned nothing. Statements emphasized high earners while omitting non-earners and expenses.
• 99% of MLM participants lose money: FTC analysis (2018/2024), widely cited. Jon M. Taylor, Ph.D., "MLM's Abysmal Numbers" — submitted to FTC as public comment.
• Global MLM market — $190B: Market research estimates, 2024. Over 102 million participants worldwide. Women: 75% of participants.
• Guru funnel methodology / fake lifestyle marketing: Will Patrick, "A Plague of Gurus" (investigative article); Multiple Medium investigative pieces on the course-to-course pipeline.