Amway Corp. and two large training organizations affiliated with its sales network have agreed to a proposed $225 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and the state of Washington. The government complaint alleges that the companies used misleading earnings and recruiting claims and pressured participants to buy products they did not want or could not resell.
The proposed order would direct nearly all of the monetary judgment toward redress for certain Amway Independent Business Owners, or IBOs, recruited through World Wide Group and Leadership Team Development who lost money. The FTC has not yet announced who will qualify, how payments will be calculated, or when they will be distributed.
Amway, World Wide Group and Leadership Team Development neither admit nor deny the complaint's allegations, except for facts needed to establish the court's jurisdiction. The order will have legal force only after a federal judge approves and signs it.
Key facts
- Case: Federal Trade Commission and State of Washington v. Amway Corp., World Wide Group, L.L.C., and Leadership Team Development, Inc., No. 2:26-cv-03474
- Court: U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
- Complaint filed: September 17, 2026
- Proposed monetary judgment: $225 million
- Who may receive redress: Certain IBOs recruited by World Wide Group or Leadership Team Development who lost money, under rules not yet published
- Claim process: None announced
- Main alleged conduct: Misleading earnings and recruiting claims, pressure to buy products and training, and false reporting of customer sales
- Business changes: A 70% verified-customer-sales requirement, reduced rewards tied to unsold purchases, sales receipts, independent audits, training and refund protections
- Current status: Proposed stipulated federal order awaiting court approval
In this article
- What the government alleges
- Who Amway, WWG and LTD are
- How the Amway sales structure works
- What the complaint says about earnings
- What the proposed order would change
- Who may receive money
- What is decided and what remains disputed
- Timeline and next steps
- Frequently asked questions
What the government alleges
The FTC and Washington accuse Amway and two approved training providers of operating and promoting an unfair and deceptive money-making opportunity. The complaint says recruits were told they could earn substantial income, replace their jobs or retire early by following a repeatable system. According to the government, typical results were far lower.
The complaint alleges that the system encouraged IBOs to purchase a set volume of Amway goods every month, even when they did not want the products or could not sell them to outside customers. It also alleges that training leaders emphasized recruiting more IBOs who would repeat the same purchasing pattern.
The government further claims that participants were instructed to report customer sales that did not occur. According to the complaint, those reports made the business appear more focused on retail demand than on purchases by people participating in the opportunity.
These are allegations in a newly filed complaint. No trial occurred, and the proposed order says the defendants do not admit or deny them.
Allegations are not findings The FTC and Washington describe the conduct in a complaint. The defendants resolved the claims without admitting liability, and the court must still approve the proposed order.
Who Amway, WWG and LTD are
Amway sells consumer products through a direct-selling and multilevel marketing network. Its main lines include nutrition products, energy drinks and bars, makeup, skincare and other household or personal-care goods. People who join the selling opportunity are called Independent Business Owners.
World Wide Group, or WWG, and Leadership Team Development, or LTD, are among Amway's largest approved providers. Approved providers are organizations authorized to recruit and train Amway participants and sell them business-support materials. Those materials can include apps, audio programs, meetings, seminars and other training.
The complaint says WWG and LTD leaders earned money from those training systems while telling IBOs the training was important to their success. It alleges that annual training costs for participants beyond their first year could range from about $1,600 to $3,600.
How the Amway sales structure works
An IBO may sell Amway products to customers and may recruit other IBOs. Recruits placed below a participant in the organization are commonly called a downline. Participants above them are called an upline. Amway assigns product purchases point and business-volume values used to calculate bonuses.
The government's theory is that this structure rewarded purchases within the participant network more than genuine retail demand. The complaint alleges that more than three-quarters of Amway's U.S. products in recent years were sold to IBOs themselves.
The complaint also says WWG's standard presentation showed roughly 96% of a modeled participant's revenue coming from purchases connected with recruits, rather than retail margin on outside-customer sales. It alleges that recruiters described enrolling six to 12 people per year as attainable even though most participants recruited nobody in a given year.
Why verified retail sales matter The proposed order would require most monthly product volume to come from documented sales to customers who are not participating in the Amway opportunity.
What the complaint says about earnings
The complaint states that the median Amway bonus in 2023 was $139 before expenses. It alleges that only about 1% of IBOs, fewer than 1,600 of more than 241,000, received $40,000 or more in bonuses that year.
Those figures do not include all individual circumstances, and they come from the government's complaint. They are relevant because the complaint says approved recruiting presentations suggested people could build teams associated with annual bonuses around $40,000.
The government also alleges that most people who joined WWG or LTD after 2020 spent more on Amway products and training than they received from Amway. It says between 70,000 and 130,000 people joined annually from 2020 through 2023 while more than 100,000 left each year.
What the proposed order would change
The order would impose detailed rules for 10 years. A participant's verified sales to eligible outside customers would need to represent at least 70% of monthly product volume. Rewards credited to the participant and, after an initial period, the upline would be reduced when that threshold is not met.
An upline participant could not enroll another participant until making verified sales to at least three different eligible customers and completing required training. New and existing participants would receive instruction on sales reporting, prohibited earnings claims, refunds and the consequences of false reporting.
The order also requires Amway to send receipts to customers and collect specific transaction details for offline sales. Amway would have to terminate participants who fake sales or teach others to do so. An independent auditor would review sales records.
Participants and former participants would receive a right to a full refund for certain unopened, unsold or currently marketable products purchased in the previous 12 months. Amway would cover return shipping when it requires the products to be sent back.
WWG, LTD and other approved providers could not charge new IBOs for training or services during their first year. The proposed order also restricts misleading income, recruiting and mentoring representations.
The settlement changes compensation controls The 70% verified-customer-sales rule and reduced upline rewards are intended to separate customer demand from purchases made mainly to generate bonus volume.
Who may receive money
The FTC says nearly all of the $225 million judgment will be used for people recruited by WWG and LTD who lost money. The proposed order gives the FTC authority to administer redress, including through a designated agent.
The public documents do not yet provide a final eligibility formula, claim form, payment date or individual payment estimate. The FTC announcement says information about the redress program will come later.
People should not pay anyone who promises access to a refund. The FTC says it does not demand money, threaten people or promise prizes. Any official payment process should be verified through the FTC's case page or later agency notices.
No refund form exists yet The government has announced the fund, but not the consumer eligibility rules or payment process. Avoid anyone asking for a fee to secure a payment.
What is decided and what remains disputed
The parties have stipulated to the order, but judicial approval is still required. The agreement resolves the claims between the governments and defendants without a trial.
The complaint's allegations remain allegations. The defendants do not admit that their earnings claims, training practices, compensation structure or sales-reporting systems violated the law. The order states that they admit only facts needed for jurisdiction.
The exact number of people who will receive redress and the amount available after administration are unknown. The record also does not establish that every IBO lost money or that every approved provider used the same practices.
Timeline and next steps
The complaint describes business practices and internal records reaching back several years, including changes to sales reporting beginning around 2021. The FTC and Washington filed the complaint and proposed order on September 17, 2026.
The federal court must decide whether to enter the stipulated order. Once entered, deadlines in the order will begin. Several core compensation and refund rules take effect nine months after entry, while training and other compliance duties have their own schedules.
The FTC is expected to publish separate information about consumer redress. Until then, former or current participants should keep records showing enrollment, approved-provider affiliation, training expenses, product purchases, bonuses, refunds and communications.
Frequently asked questions
Is the $225 million an Amway class action settlement?
It is a government enforcement settlement brought by the FTC and Washington, not a private class action settlement. The proposed order includes money for consumer redress.
Who may qualify for an Amway payment?
The FTC says nearly all of the judgment will go to IBOs recruited by WWG and LTD who lost money. Detailed eligibility rules have not been announced.
Do I need to file a claim now?
No public claim process has been announced. Check the FTC's official announcement and case documents for updates.
Did Amway admit wrongdoing?
No. The proposed order says the defendants neither admit nor deny the allegations, except facts needed to establish jurisdiction.
What is the 70% rule?
Under the proposed order, verified sales to eligible outside customers must account for at least 70% of a participant's monthly product volume. Benefits would be reduced if the threshold is not met.
When will payments be sent?
The FTC has not published a payment schedule. The court must first approve the order, and the agency must announce the redress process.