It’s the granddaddy of nutrition MLMs.
The company Bill Ackman tried to annihilate with a billion-dollar short.
The one that got called a pyramid scheme in Belgium… then won on appeal.
The one that the FTC fined hundreds of millions and forced to rebuild its U.S. business from the ground up.

In other words: Herbalife isn’t your average “start a side hustle” brand. It’s a battle-tested, lawsuit-seasoned global giant that still sells shakes in over 90 countries despite being dragged through more regulatory drama than most MLMs experience in a lifetime.

So the real question for 2025 isn’t:

“Is Herbalife dead?”

It’s:

“Is Herbalife today a legitimate nutrition business opportunity…
or just a more sophisticated pyramid that learned how to talk to regulators?”

Let’s break it down.

Now before I get into this…

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Inventory

Selling to friends and family

Selling to strangers

Recruiting people

Dealing with questionable products that weigh on your conscience

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If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, check out Digital Real Estate.

However, if you’d still like to know more about Herbalife, keep reading.

Who Runs Herbalife Review?

Herbalife began in 1980 when founder Mark Hughes started selling weight-loss shakes out of the trunk of his car. His mission came from his mother’s health issues, and he wanted to help people lose weight “the healthy way.”

He built an empire, but in 2000 he died unexpectedly from a combination of alcohol and an antidepressant. Professional executives took over, and the company expanded massively in the years that followed.

As of 2025:

Herbalife is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in Los Angeles.
It operates in nearly 100 countries.
It has millions of distributors and billions in annual revenue.
Leadership recently shifted again, with a former top distributor stepping into the CEO role and long-time executive leadership staying heavily involved.

Regulatory battles? Herbalife has a highlight reel:

A Belgian court once called it a pyramid scheme — overturned on appeal two years later.
A U.S. hedge fund billionaire publicly accused it of being a “modern-day Ponzi scheme.”
The FTC forced Herbalife to pay a $200 million settlement and fundamentally restructure its U.S. business model to emphasize real customers over endless-chain recruiting.

And yet…

Herbalife is still here, still huge, still selling shakes.

HerbaLife Products Offered

If you stripped the MLM out of Herbalife, you’d basically have a giant nutrition and wellness brand. Their product line includes:

Weight Management

Formula 1 shakes (their flagship)
Protein powders
Meal bars
“Enhancers”
Snacks

Targeted Nutrition

Heart health supplements
Digestive health
Immune support
Men’s and women’s formulas
Kids’ vitamins
Healthy aging supplements

Sports & Fitness (Herbalife24)

Pre-workout
Hydration formulas
Recovery shakes

Energy & Wellness

Teas
Guarana tablets
Aloe drinks

Personal Care

Skin care
Hair care
Aloe-based products
Anti-aging serums

There are legitimate products. People do use them. In some towns, Herbalife “nutrition clubs” outnumber Starbucks.

But…

Pricing is usually higher than store brands.
There is nothing uniquely proprietary that you couldn’t substitute with non-MLM brands.
And the real question is never whether the products exist…

But whether the business is actually profitable for the average person.

Spoiler: usually not.

Herbalife Compensation Plan (Post-FTC Version)

Herbalife’s compensation plan used to be so complicated it could give a mathematician an aneurysm.

Thanks to the FTC forcing Herbalife to clean up its U.S. act, the modern plan is more structured — but still very MLM-heavy.

Here’s the 2025 breakdown.

Two Types of Participants Now

1. Preferred Members (Discount Buyers)
These people join only for cheaper products.
No recruiting.
No commissions.
It’s basically a loyalty program.

2. Distributors (Business Builders)
These are the folks trying to earn money.
They can retail, recruit, build teams, and earn overrides — but they must meet stricter retail and customer documentation rules in the U.S.

Ways to Earn

Retail Profit

Buy at a discount, sell at full price, and keep the difference.

Wholesale profit

Earn the margin between your discount and your downline’s discount.

Volume Points

Every product has point values. These determine your rank and earning potential.

Ranks Unlock Bigger Bonuses

Supervisor
Global Expansion Team
Millionaire Team
President’s Team
…and so on.

As you climb, you earn deeper royalty overrides and multi-level production bonuses. But each promotion requires maintaining unrealistically large volumes unless you’re recruiting like your life depends on it.

The FTC’s Big Change

The U.S. version of Herbalife now requires:

Actual verified retail customers
Limits on rewards tied strictly to recruitment
Proof that volume is coming from outside the distributor network

International markets may still look more like the old Herbalife, but the U.S. is the “cleanest” version.

Cost to Join HerbaLife Reviews?

Herbalife is not one of those $25-to-start MLMs.

The real cost includes:

A starter kit (varies by region)
Ongoing product purchases to stay active
Sample packs
Monthly volume requirements
Events
Conventions
Marketing materials
Travel

The actual “startup fee” is low.
The business-building cost is high.

Most losses in MLM don’t come from the sign-up fee — they come from the monthly spending required to “qualify for commissions.”

PROS and CONS

PROS

✔ Real products and strong global brand recognition
Herbalife has physical products, established manufacturing, and global infrastructure.

✔ FTC pressure made U.S. operations more legitimate
The forced changes created more separation between customers and distributors.

✔ You can be a customer without being part of the MLM
A big improvement — especially compared to pre-FTC days.

✔ Still a multi-billion-dollar company
The stability and name recognition are far beyond typical MLMs.

CONS

❌ Long history of pyramid-scheme accusations
The allegations may not define the company today, but the reputation follows it everywhere.

❌ Most distributors earn little to nothing
Herbalife’s own disclosures show poor earnings for the majority.

❌ Comp plan complexity is a barrier
Volume points, royalty levels, sliding scales… most people quit before understanding it.

❌ High product pricing
Competitors sell similar products at lower prices without the MLM markup.

❌ Success depends heavily on large downlines
You don’t “sell your way up” — you recruit your way up.

❌ Regulatory risk always lingers
When your past includes billionaires, regulators, and international lawsuits, you’re never truly out of the woods.

Final Verdict

So… is Herbalife a pyramid scheme in 2025?

Legally? No.

Functionally?
Depends which side of the comp plan you’re on.

Here’s the blunt truth:

Herbalife today is a highly-regulated, mature MLM with real products.
But it is still an MLM — which means most people won’t make meaningful income.

If you:

love the products,
want a discount,
and aren’t expecting life-changing money…

Herbalife as a customer makes sense.

But if you’re looking for a serious business opportunity?

Herbalife is still a mountain where 99% of climbers quit halfway up — and the 1% who reach the summit did so by building enormous teams over many years.

In short:

Herbalife is not a scam… but it’s also nowhere near the wealth vehicle recruiters make it sound like.

If you want predictable, scalable income, you’re almost always better off building a business you control — not trying to climb a 45-year-old pay structure designed before the internet even existed.