Mental health professionals and cult experts such as Rick Ross, Diane Benscoter, and Steve Hassan have called Raniere a cult leader who manipulates and exerts coercive control over his followers. Scholars in the fields of religious studies, law and sociology describe NXIVM as a cult. Within NXIVM, Raniere was referred to as "Vanguard".
Operating from 1998 to 2018, NXIVM had 700 members at its height, including celebrities and the wealthy. Raniere co-founded NXIVM, a purported self-help multi-level marketing company offering personal development seminars and headquartered in Albany, New York.
Keith Allen Raniere ( / r æ ˈ nj ɛər i/ born August 26, 1960) is an American cult leader who was convicted of a pattern of racketeering activity, including human trafficking, sex offenses and fraud.