In a real life David vs. Goliath battle, there’s an active and very aggressive effort by a major corporation to prevent the publication and distribution of a book by the former spouse of one of the founders. The Goliath is Nu Skin, a Provo, Utah based MLM.
The David in our story is one Adam Baker, ex-husband of Sandie Tillotson, company co-founder. Baker’s book is called Formerly Filthy Rich - My Scandalous Life with a Billionaire Cougar. It details his six year marriage to Tillotson in shocking detail, and that the company’s founding story is a myth, riddled with corruption, unsavory political influence, and downright fraudulent products.
In a real life David vs. Goliath battle, there’s an active and very aggressive effort by a major corporation to prevent the publication and distribution of a book by the former spouse of one of the founders. The company is Nu Skin, a Provo Utah based multi-level marketing company, that’s listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Nu Skin sells skin care and nutrition products via MLM, which if you’re not familiar with, is a distribution network based on recruitment of others in your “down-line” to buy products, on which you get an over ride. At the very least it’s an unsavory method of doing business, and has a failure rate of somewhere near 96%. Nu Skin is among the biggest and most successful MLM companies, a Goliath.
The David in our story is one Adam Baker, ex-husband of Sandie Tillotson, company co-founder, and admittedly the boy toy, or trophy husband, if you will. Baker’s book is called Formerly Filthy Rich - My Scandalous Life with a Billionaire Cougar. It details his six year marriage to Tillotson in shocking detail, and here’s where the pain is for Nu Skin and Tillotson. Not only does Baker contend that the company’s founding story is a myth, but that it is riddled with corruption, unsavory political influence, and downright fraudulent products. As for Tillotson, he paints a picture of a ruthless scheming tyrant, who uses a charity for publicity while hating the people it serves. Baker also alleges that her sexual tastes run to younger men --which of course is her business, and in one shocking tale, under age ones as well—which is not just her business, and possibly criminal.
That’s the background, and given that, it’s easy to see why the company has dispatched its legal team to force Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and LuLu to stop distribution of the book. In addition, at least two web sites and a blog have also been turned off. But Baker’s gotten some press, and a couple of radio interviews, and the story is beginning to take on a life of its own, especially in Utah, where there are enough people with connections to Nu Skin to recognize the truth when they see it.
Baker says that Tillotson stripped him of all assets in the divorce, forcing him to even pay her attorney fees. The last seems incomprehensible, given that Tillotson’s worth perhaps $1B. He’s contacted the ACLU and others looking for some help, but so far has no takers in his First amendment battle.
In the meantime, he’s fighting a battle for the right to say in public what he knows, his slingshot firing at the Goliath, hoping for the one shot that hits home.
Baker’s blog is at Formerly Filthy Rich Blogspot, or you can just google the book title for more information.