The Learning Annex is an American education company based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. It was founded in 1980 by

Bill Zanker Bill Zanker is an American businessman who is best known for being the founder of the adult education company The Learning Annex. Early life and education Zanker grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey. As a senior at Teaneck High School, Zanker was on ...

in his

studio apartment with a $5,000 investment. It is considered the largest

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values.Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

company in North America. The Learning Annex provides continuing adult education offering a wide range of classes on diverse topics, including "How to Develop & Write a Winning Business Plan", "Intro to Pole Dancing", "How to Write a Book Proposal That Publishers Can't Refuse", "How to Talk to Your Cat", "How to Buy Foreclosed Property", "Make Contact with Lost Loved Ones", "How to Shoot Your Own Live Adult Video", "Kabbalah-Dating", "How to Create Magical Spells", "Discover Your Past Lives - Who Were You Before?", "How to Make Your Own Soap", and "How to Marry the Rich". The Learning Annex has achieved

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ...

status with references to it appearing on ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United St ...

'' and other television shows as well as being a subject of

monologue In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

s and a component of movie and television plots. In 1991, Zanker sold the Learning Annex, but he repurchased the company in 2002. At the time of his repurchase, it had very little marketing and a roster of little-known speakers. Zanker invested millions of dollars into advertising and marketing and revitalized the company. In recent years, The Learning Annex has concentrated its efforts on large-scale events featuring notable speakers such as

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

Robert Kiyosaki Robert Toru Kiyosaki (born April 8, 1947) is an American entrepreneur, businessman and author. Kiyosaki is the founder of Rich Global LLC and the Rich Dad Company, a private financial education company that provides personal finance and busine ...

, and Anthony Robbins. Other high-profile speakers include Al Gore,

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 19 ...

Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He works as a private adviser and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC. ...

George Foreman George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champ ...

Ramona Singer Ramona Singer (née Mazur; born November 18, 1956) is an American television personality, businesswoman, and author. She is best known as a main cast member on the reality television series ''The Real Housewives of New York City'', in which she ha ...

Julius Erving Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player ...

, David Bach,

Joe Montana Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. Nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "the Comeback Kid ...

, Bill Walsh,

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim ...

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expresse ...

Suze Orman Susan Lynn "Suze" Orman ( ; born June 5, 1951) is an American financial advisor, author, and podcast host. In 1987, she founded the Suze Orman Financial Group. Her work as a financial advisor gained notability with ''The Suze Orman Show'', which ...

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. Simmons ...

Barbara Corcoran Barbara Ann Corcoran (born March 10, 1949) is an American businesswoman, investor, syndicated columnist, and television personality. She founded The Corcoran Group, a real estate brokerage in New York City, which she sold to NRT for $66 million ...

, and John Demartini.

reportedly received $1.5 million for each of the 17 one-hour presentations he did for The Learning Annex's "real estate wealth expos" in 2006 and 2007. In a court deposition two years later, Trump admitted that he was paid $400,000. In September 2006, William Zanker paid $73,200 to purchase a used

Lincoln Town Car The Lincoln Town Car is a model line of full-size luxury sedans that was marketed by the Lincoln division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. Deriving its name from a limousine body style, Lincoln marketed the Town Car from 1981 to ...

belonging to American investor

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...

, reportedly in a bid to coax Buffett into conducting a Learning Annex class. In November 2005, Zanker paid $57,100 to have lunch with media mogul

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

. The Learning Annex was No. 346 on the 2007 Inc. 5000 (a list of the nation's fastest-growing private companies) with a reported three year growth of 794.1%, revenue of $102 million, and 114 employees. Later in 2007, it ceased its operations in Toronto, Canada.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Learning Annex, The Academic organizations based in the United States Education companies of the United States Privately held companies based in New York (state) 1980 establishments in New York City American companies established in 1980 Educational institutions established in 1980