How Amway grew

Amway, short for "American Way," was founded by Richard DeVos and Jay Van Andel in 1959.

Friends from Grand Rapids Christian High School, the two had started out selling nutritional supplements. Based on the principles of self-reliance and financial independence, the company remains privately owned, with the founders' children all involved in the business.

Under the umbrella of Alticor Corporate Enterprises, Amway now reports having three million distributors worldwide. The products are not found in malls or on retail shelves, except in the employees' company store at Amway's world headquarters in Ada, Mich.

Much of the merchandise - more than 400 items from soaps and household cleaning products to protein powder and vitamins - is manufactured in-house. But Amway also distributes other products, including the high-end cosmetics line Laura Mercier.

According to the business model, distributors sell to friends and relatives and build their profits by recruiting new salespeople, whose revenue they then share.

The company has been dogged by lawsuits for decades, most stemming from accusations that it is a pyramid scheme. In the 1970s, the Federal Trade Commission spent years investigating the company but concluded all the allegations were false, except a price-fixing violation. The company has made policy changes to address some of the earlier problems. Nevertheless, in 2010, Amway paid $55 million to settle a lawsuit brought by disgruntled distributors.

Though Amway reports that business is growing in the United States, 90 percent of its distributors live overseas, where the company's growth has exploded, particularly in Asia.

Van Andel died in 2004. Today, his son Steve and Devos' youngest son, Doug, share the position of CEO.

- Melissa Dribben