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Herbalife

Founded in 1980, Herbalife International (NYSE: HLF) is a company that sells weight-loss and health products by multi-level marketing, also known as network marketing. more...

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Company history

In February 1980, Mark Hughes began selling the original Herbalife weight loss product from the trunk of his car. By 1982, Herbalife had reached $2,000,000 in sales and opened a distributorship in Canada, its first outside of the United States. In 1986 Herbalife became a publicly traded company via NASDAQ. Independent distributors' personal vehicles could be seen on the street, decorated by decals bearing the mysterious slogan "Lose weight now, ask me how!" In 1996 Herbalife reached $1,000,000,000 in annual sales. In 2000, Hughes died at the age of 44 from an accidental overdose of alcohol and prescription sleeping pills. The company has continued to grow after his death.

In 1994 Mark Hughes started the Herbalife Family Foundation, a charity dedicated to helping children. The organization receives donations from Herbalife itself as well as individuals within and outside the company. The Herbalife Family Foundation has donated more than $6.5 million to children's causes worldwide.

In 2003, Michael O. Johnson joined Herbalife as CEO following a 17-year career with The Walt Disney Company, most recently as president of Walt Disney International. On December 16 2004 the company had an initial public offering on the NYSE of 14,500,000 common shares at $14/share. 2004 net sales were reported as $1.3 billion. In April 2005, the company celebrated its 25th anniversary with a four-day event attended by 35,000 Herbalife Independent Distributors from around the world. In August 2005, Dr. Steve Henig joined the company as Chief Scientific Officer, responsible for product research and development.

The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and employs 3500 worldwide. Products are distributed in 63 countries through a network that Herbalife claims contains 1.4 million independent distributors.

Product overview

Herbalife's product offering includes weight-management products such as Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix, a meal-replacement shake and one of the first products introduced by the company. Other nutritional products offered by Herbalife range from dietary supplements made from vitamins, minerals and herbs to personal care products emphasizing nutritional and herbal ingredients, such as aloe vera and vitamin C.

As of 2005, it is not immediately clear what method Herbalife's weight loss products employ, although the nutritional ingredients are listed on the product. Recent advertisements indicate that the current philosophy is one of meal replacement via diet shakes, and nutritional supplements.