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Keith Raniere (born August 26, 1960) is the founder of NXIVM, a multi-level marketing organization that has been described as a cult.

Early life and education

Raniere is the son of a New York City advertiser and a mother who taught ballroom dancing; he grew up in Suffern, New York after having spent his first five years in Brooklyn. He arrived in the Albany area at the age of 16, around the time his mother died, to attend the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1981.

Career

In 1998, Raniere and associate Nancy Salzman founded NXIVM, an alleged sex cult in upstate New York, offering "executive success programs".

Raniere has for many years been accused of running a cult-like organization, in part due to him giving himself the title, "Vanguard". Kristin Keeffe, a longtime partner of Raniere and mother of his child, who split from the group allegedly due to his activities, described him as "dangerous". In an earlier article in the Times Union, NXIVM former coaches characterized students as "prey" for Raniere to satisfy either his gambling or sexual proclivities. In 2017, a Canadian actress who had been with Executive Success Programs since 2005 recounted how she was inducted into a secretive program where women were blindfolded naked and, using a cauterizing pen, branded in the pubic area with the initials KR (for Keith Rainere) in a submission ritual. In 2017, The New York Times reported that a "secret sisterhood" within NXIVM referred to female members as "slaves", branded them with Raniere's initials, and required them to provide nude photos or other potentially damaging information about themselves if they wished to join. In March 2018, Raniere was indicted on federal charges after being arrested in Mexico on sex trafficking charges. Following his arrest, Raniere appeared in front of a Fort Worth federal judge in the State of Texas where he faced charges of sex trafficking and as well as forced labor in New York State.

References

1. Barcella, Laura (28 March 2018). "NXIVM: What We Know About Alleged Sex Trafficking, Forced Labor". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
2. William D. Cohan (18 November 2014). "How a Strange, Secretive, Cult-like Company Is Waging Legal War Against Journalists". The Nation.
3. Odato, James (12 May 2014). "A split from NXIVM". Times Union (Albany).
4. Odato, James (22 November 2010). "Ex-NXIVM trainer: Students are prey". Times Union (Albany).
5. "Vancouver woman says scars from ritual 'branding' fuel her fight against 'cultish' group". CBC. 27 October 2017.
6. Meier, Barry. "Inside a Secretive Group Where Women Are Branded". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
7. "Former NXIVM member says she was invited into a secret sorority, then branded". ABC News. 16 December 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
8. "Leader of NY Group Branded Women, Made Them Sex Slaves: Feds". 26 March 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
9. "Leader of alleged cult that ensnared Vancouver woman appears in court". 27 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.

• Use dmy dates from June 2011
• NXIVM people
• 1960 births
• Businesspeople from New York City
• American businesspeople
• American motivational speakers
• Living people
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni
• Multi-level marketing