There's nothing wrong, at least conceptually, with Herbalife's products, protein shakes.

However, Herbalife's success comes from their incredibly shady and destructive pyramid scheme that preys on individuals and tricks them into acquiring debt in exchange for becoming "distributors" of Herbalife products. According to the FTC [1], "it's virtually impossible to make money selling Herbalife products".

I recommend the documentary Betting on Zero [2] for more insight into Herbalife, as well as the fascinating story of Bill Ackman's failed attempt at shorting their stock at a huge scale.

[1] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2016/07/...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betting_on_Zero

Betting on Zero is a great documentary. If you want a competing view point, you should read the blog posts by John Hempton, an Australian hedge fund manager.

http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2015/06/herbalife-very-lon...

Not the parent, but I imagine what they are talking about is the Herbalife depends more on recruiting new members than they are from selling product. I would link but just googling "bill ackman herbalife" will lead you down infinite rabbit holes.

I know. A bet that did not turn out too well for Ackman, didn't it? As mentioned by someone here and in my RSS Feed:

http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2015/06/herbalife-very-lon...

[I don't have any position in Herbalife and I enjoy my shakes Harbalife free]

Pyramid schemes strive until they run out of victims.

How much of Herbalife’s success is from selling a competitive product will determine its survival in the long run.

Still its MLM sales methods are questionable and cost a lot of people money.

If it is a Pyramid scheme. Bronte capital doubts this and they give, as always, decent reasons.