Marketed publicly as a self-improvement company, NXIVM concealed a secret internal society in which founder Keith Raniere coerced women into sexual servitude and branding.
Keith Raniere founded NXIVM in 1998 as a personal- and professional-development company offering seminars (“Executive Success Programs”) that attracted a wealthy and sometimes famous clientele, including actress Allison Mack. Within that structure, Raniere ran a secret society called DOS (“Dominus Obsequious Sororium”), in which women were recruited as “slaves,” coerced into providing collateral (compromising personal material), branded with a symbol incorporating Raniere’s initials, and sexually exploited.
Raniere was arrested in Mexico in March 2018 and extradited to the U.S. A jury convicted him in June 2019 on all counts, including racketeering, sex trafficking, and forced labor conspiracy. He was sentenced in October 2020 to 120 years in federal prison. Several co-defendants, including Mack, also pleaded guilty to related charges.