Herbalife MLM Company is one of the best, globally accepted companies in the MLM industry. The Herbalife company was established around 1980 and works in over 90 countries globally. It focuses mainly on trading healthy living products, vitamin supplements, and skincare products. Even in this 2025, Herbalife continues to be superior in the MLM industry.
In this article, we discuss Herbalife’s products and business structure from an unprejudiced view. The main objective of this article is to provide you with a complete Herbalife MLM review, enabling you to make informed decisions about its contributions and business openings.
What is Herbalife?
Herbalife is a leading Multi-Level Marketing Company, where individual entrepreneurs sell goods to consumers and recruit people to enroll in the company. Entrepreneurs gain profits depending on their individual sales and the sales of their downlines
Herbalife MLM Company Review 2025
For decades, Herbalife has been a major player in the MLM sector. The founder of Herbalife Company is Mark R. Hughes. It is a California-Los Angeles based company, famous for its nutritive supplements, weight loss, and beauty products and it is one of the fastest-growing and most contentious companies in the U.S. At first, Hughes traded the weight loss shakes in Los Angeles. So he faced skepticism from doctors, nutritionists, and from authorities about the legality of Herbalife’s products.
In 2020, Herbalife has accomplished major economic milestones, making $5.5 billion earnings and ranking third on the DSN 100 list. Herbalife works in over 90 countries worldwide, with almost 9,900 employees, and approximately 4.5 million autonomous distributors and members. The company has handled legal actions such as an FTC investigation and a $200 million payment due to Ponzi scheme accusations. However the company continues to grow into new regions and remains as one of the leading MLM companies in the world in 2025.
Product Line of Herbalife Company
Herbalife MLM Company focuses on healthy living and offers vitamins and skincare products. Its international products consist of Formula 1, 2, and 3 nutrition shakes and meal powders. Moreover, they suggest weight loss, mineral and herbal supplements, vitamins, energy drinks, sports nutrition supplements, fiber supplements, fitness, skincare and hair care products. Their popular products are;
Essential Nutrition
Herbalife Essential Nutrition line offers nutritious supplements like multivitamins, meal replacements, protein shakes and Formula 1, 2, & 3 supplements having basic nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
Healthy Weight
To support weight management objectives, Herbalife’s healthy weight product line intends to present a variety of nutritive supplements and meal replacements. To complement a balanced diet and exercise routine, this product line designs snack bars, protein shakes, and supplements.
Skincare and Hair care
To support skin and hair health, the Herbalife Skin and Hair care line provides numerous cosmetic and personal care products. Herbalife claims that the products are supplemented with botanicals, antioxidants, and necessary vitamins and help to sustain, protect, and rejuvenate skin and hair.
Energy and Fitness
The Herbalife Energy and Fitness line contains a range of products intended to recover energy levels, increase strengths, and enhance physical performance while confirming good hydration. In addition, this product line consists of pre-workout supplements, hydration solutions, and regaining formulas.
Benefits and Drawbacks of joining in Herbalife
You can join Herbalife in two ways, as a customer and as a distributor. The benefits and drawbacks of Herbalife are listed below:
Benefits of joining in Herbalife
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Credibility
Herbalife is one of the world-famous MLM Companies, operating in the MLM business industry for about four
decades.
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Sponsorship
Herbalife has several world-famous sponsorship deals that add to the company’s sincerity. The celebrated soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo, is one of the main sponsors of Herbalife.
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Refund Policy
Herbalife offers a one-year refund policy for new hires. Distributors can return all unsold products to the company within one year. They will get their money back.
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Charity
The charity works of Herbalife Company present themselves in a positive light. The main charity works of Herbalife are the Herbalife Nutrition Foundation, Casa Herbalife, the Herbalife Family Foundation, etc.
Drawbacks of joining Herbalife
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Allegations
Over the years, Herbalife has been involved in several litigations over doubtful business practices. There have also been various accusations that it is a pyramid scheme. All of this has tarnished the company’s reputation.
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Overrated
Herbalife’s products also faced pricing issues related to the products and services. No matter how good the products are, it can be very challenging to sell them at an overrated price when the same products from ordinary brands are accessible at cheap prices.
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Complex Compensation Plan
Herbalife MLM’s compensation plan is very difficult. Also, it places too much value on hiring affiliates rather than marketing products. This can be viewed as a negative sign in the MLM industry.
Objections
There have been many objections about the company’s products and distributors. Some customers have experienced side effects from using Herbalife products. Some distributors have had corrupt experiences with distributors, and some distributors have had problems with the company in claiming refunds.
Is Herbalife a Pyramid Scheme?
The question ‘Is Herbalife a pyramid scheme?’ has been a challenging topic among people. To understand the difference between a legal MLM and an illegal pyramid scheme is very important to clarify this question.
1, MLM (Multi-Level Marketing):
Multi-level marketing is a legitimate business model that consists of both product sales and the recruitment of new members. In MLM, the revenue is generated mainly through selling real products rather than recruiting new distributors. It is the basics of legality.
2, Pyramid Scheme:
If the business’s focus is on recruiting new participants into the network rather than concentrating on product sales, it is an illegal pyramid program. In a pyramid system, the participants earn income via recruitments, rather than genuine sales of products. The pyramid systems rely upon recruitment in order to support the earnings of those who belong to the top level of the pyramid. It will ultimately lead to the pyramid’s downfall.
Claims of Pyramid Scheme and Herbalife
In the course of time, Herbalife was facing many legal proceedings concerning its business approaches. Most importantly:
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US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
In 1982, Herbalife began getting objections from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about speculative claims made about its products.
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Brussels court judgment [2011]
In 2011, a Brussels court judged Herbalife to be an illegitimate pyramid organization. But, after Herbalife’s petition, in 2013 a Belgian appeals court defended Herbalife’s position and canceled the lower court’s primary judgment.
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Federal Trade Commission (FTC) agreement (2016):
In 2016, the FTC claimed that Herbalife confused potential recruits by exaggerating potential earnings from selling goods and services. So the commission decided to pay the company $200 million in consumer refunds.
However, the commission warned Herbalife against the pyramid system, so it made changes to its business system, like modifying the commission system, etc.
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Ongoing Legal actions:
In spite of the 2016 agreement, the company persisted in legal actions from old entrepreneurs and reviewers. They dispute that Herbalife’s system appeared like a pyramid structure because of the irresistible priority on recruiting people over selling products.
However, Herbalife smartly showed these actions as an achievement, avoiding being formally stated as a pyramid scheme. Herbalife is acclaimed as a success story within MLM and continues its position to this day.
Major Concernments:
Concentrate on Recruiting people
Herbalife gives more concentration on recruiting people rather than selling products is the general criticism against the company. The majority of the entrepreneurs describe that most of their income comes from recruitments rather than product sales. This led to the allegation against Herbalife.
Advantageousness for Entrepreneurs
Like many other MLM programs, a very small number of entrepreneurs make remarkable earnings. The majority of entrepreneurs make little or nothing, and some may lose investment because of the highest price of the products.
How Does Herbalife Compare to a Pyramid Scheme?
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Product Sales vs. Recruitment
Herbalife does sell real products, and it has taken steps to increase the focus on product sales, as per the FTC settlement. However, the emphasis on recruiting others remains a core component of the business model. This is a key area where MLMs like Herbalife differ from legitimate retail businesses.
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Compensation Plan
Herbalife distributors earn money through both direct sales of products and commissions based on their recruits’ sales (multi-level compensation). This creates an environment where income can be heavily reliant on recruitment, which is often a feature of pyramid schemes.
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Viability
The viable nature of Herbalife’s business is often questioned by people. The benefits of newer distributors will limit when the number of recruitments grows.
Conclusion
Herbalife is not a pyramid or Ponzi scheme, but due to its structure, business practices, and emphasis on recruitment, it leads to many legal actions and criticisms. Sometimes Herbalife’s business model is like a pyramid or Ponzi scheme, recruiting people into the business to earn money.
The success of an MLM business depends on the number of recruitments and selling the product in a large network. If anyone is considering joining any MLM business, it is very crucial to do full research and review about the company and study the risks and challenges involved.
About The Author
Edward
Research Analyst
Experienced Research Analyst with in-depth knowledge of the MLM industry, including emerging trends and innovative strategies. Passionate about utilizing technology to drive growth and optimize business processes. Adept at analyzing market dynamics, delivering actionable insights, and staying ahead of industry developments.
