NXIVM (/ˈnɛksiəm/) is an American cult that engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor and racketeering. Based in Clifton Park, New York, a suburb of Saratoga County, NXIVM purported to be a multi-level marketing company that offered personal and professional development seminars through its "Executive Success Programs" of large-group awareness training. The company was a recruiting platform for a secret society called "DOS" in which women were branded and forced into sexual slavery.

In early 2018, NXIVM's founder, Keith Raniere, and his associate, actress Allison Mack, were arrested and indicted on federal charges related to DOS, including sex trafficking. Others associated with NXIVM were also charged with federal crimes. As of April 2019, five people associated with NXIVM—Mack, NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman, Lauren Salzman, Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman, and bookkeeper Kathy Russell—had pleaded guilty to various charges. Raniere was convicted in federal court of sex trafficking and racketeering on June 19, 2019. On September 30, 2020, Clare Bronfman became the first defendant sentenced in the case, when she was ordered to serve six years and nine months in federal prison. Mack was sentenced to three years in prison on June 30, 2021.

After Raniere's conviction, he continued to direct loyalists from behind bars, encouraging continued recruitment. At his direction, members of the group have regularly danced outside Raniere's jail and staged coordinated protests of individual prosecutors. In September 2020, it was estimated that about 50 to 60 people remained loyal to Raniere. Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison in October 2020.

Before founding NXIVM, Raniere created Consumers Buyline, a business venture that the New York Attorney General accused of having been a pyramid scheme; Raniere signed a consent order in 1996 in which he denied any wrongdoing but agreed to pay a $40,000 fine and to be permanently banned from "promoting, offering or granting participation in a chain distribution scheme".

Founding and initial success

In 1998, Raniere and Nancy Salzman founded NXIVM, a personal development company offering "Executive Success Programs" (ESP) and a range of techniques for self-improvement. Raniere claimed that its "main emphasis is to have people experience more joy in their lives".

During NXIVM seminars, students would call Raniere and Salzman "Vanguard" and "Prefect", respectively. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Raniere adopted the title from the 1981 video game Vanguard, "in which the destruction of one's enemies increased one's own power". Within the organization, the reasoning for the titles was that Raniere was the leader of a philosophical movement and Salzman was his first student.

By 2003, 3,700 people had taken part in ESP classes. Reported participants included businesswoman Sheila Johnson, former Surgeon General Antonia Novello, Enron executive Stephen Cooper, Ana Cristina Fox (daughter of former Mexican president Vicente Fox), entrepreneur Richard Branson (who denied having taken the classes, businessman Edgar Bronfman Sr. and actresses Linda Evans, Grace Park, and Nicki Clyne. In the early 2000s, Seagram heiresses Clare and Sara Bronfman, daughters of Edgar Bronfman Sr., became attached to the organization.