Robert Lawrence FitzPatrick (born 1946 or 1947) is an American

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

. He serves as president of Pyramid Scheme Alert, a

consumer organization Consumer organizations are advocacy groups that seek to protect people from corporate abuse like unsafe products, predatory lending, false advertising, astroturfing and pollution. Consumer Organizations may operate via protests, litigation, Adver ...

to confront the abuses of

pyramid scheme A pyramid scheme is a business model which, rather than earning money (or providing Return on investment, returns on investments) by sale of legitimate product (business), products to an end consumer, mainly earns money by recruiting new members ...

Biography

Early life and education

FitzPatrick was born and raised in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

to Thomas Raymond Fitzpatrick Sr. and Kathleen Ann Frank. FitzPatrick is the youngest of his two siblings. FitzPatrick graduated from Charlotte Catholic High School in 1964. FitzPatrick then attended

Belmont Abbey College Belmont Abbey College is a private, Catholic liberal arts college in Belmont, North Carolina. It was founded in 1876 by the Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey. The college is affiliated with the Catholic Church and the Order of Saint Benedict. ...

, and graduated with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

in 1968.

Career

FitzPatrick's interest in pyramid schemes was sparked in the 1980s when he joined a business with a multi-level, direct-sales model. While Fitzpatrick didn't lose money, he did witness first-hand how one could get sucked into what he called "delusional behavior".

Author

FitzPatrick is the co-author of the self-published book ''False Profits: Seeking Financial and Spiritual Deliverance in Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Schemes'' (), a 1997 critical book that examines the multi-level marketing (MLM) industry. He has followed it up with his book ''Ponzinomics: The Untold Story of Multi-Level Marketing'' () in 2021. The title: Ponzinomics is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

Ponzi Charles Ponzi (; ; born Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi; March 3, 1882 – January 18, 1949) was an Italian charlatan and con artist who operated in the United States and Canada. His aliases included ''Charles Ponci'', ''Carlo'' ...

and

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

that "captures two realities of multilevel marketing": that it's both a pyramid scheme and a cult with a "belief system and... ideology"

Speaker

FitzPatrick has been featured on

Fraud Squad TV ''Fraud Squad TV'' is a Canadian half-hour documentary television series aimed at bringing awareness to the public about the global problem of fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right ...

ABC World News ''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting ...

and

WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). ...

's ''Chicago Matters''. He has been interviewed live on

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

Marketplace A marketplace, market place, or just market, is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from ...

. He has been quoted in newspapers and journals, including ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

External links

Robert L. FitzPatrick Official False Profits Blog

Pyramid Scheme Alert - Homepage

* ttp://www.pyramidschemealert.org/PSAMain/resources/FalseProfits.html Robert L. FitzPatrick Interview - ZenBiz Radio
Robert L. FitzPatrick - Speech at the annual meeting of the Association of Certified Fraud Specialists in San Francisco (September, 2006)

Robert L. FitzPatrick , LinkedIn

Personal life

FitzPatrick is of Italian descent.

Reference

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, Robert Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American non-fiction writers Writers from Charlotte, North Carolina People associated with direct selling People from Charlotte, North Carolina American people of Italian descent Belmont Abbey College alumni People from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina People from North Carolina People from North, South Carolina 20th-century writers 21st-century writers