Landmark Worldwide

Not to be confused with Landmark School or Landmark College.

Landmark Worldwide LLC
Company typePrivately held company LLC
IndustryPersonal development
FoundedJanuary 16, 1991 (1991-01-16)
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California
Key people
Harry Rosenberg, CEO[1][2][3]
ProductsThe Landmark Forum, associated coursework
Revenue$100 million (2016)[4]
$5 million (2016)[4]
Number of employees
500 employees and 7,500 volunteers[4][5]
Subsidiaries
  • The Vanto Group
  • Tekniko Licensing Corporation
Websitelandmarkworldwide.com

Landmark Worldwide (known as Landmark Education before 2013), or simply Landmark, is an American employee-owned for-profit company that offers personal-development programs, with their most-known being the Landmark Forum. It is one of several Large Group Awareness Training programs.

Several sociologists and scholars of religion have classified Landmark as a "new religious movement" (NRM), while others have called it a "self-religion," a "corporate religion," and a "religio-spiritual corporation". Landmark has sometimes been described a cult. Some religious experts dispute this claim, pointing out that Landmark does not meet some characteristics of cults, including being a religious organization, or having a central leader. Landmark has been criticized for the stress it puts on participants while it tries to convert them to a new worldview and for its recruitment tactics: Landmark does not use advertising, but instead pressures participants during courses to recruit relatives and friends as new customers.

As part of the Human Potential Movement, which was centered in San Francisco, Werner Erhard created and ran the est (Erhard Seminars Training) system from 1971 to 1984, which promoted the idea that individuals are empowered when they take personal responsibility for all events in their lives, both good and bad. In 1985, Erhard modified est to be gentler and more business oriented and renamed it the Landmark Forum. In 1991, he sold the company and its concepts to some of his employees, who incorporated it as Landmark Education Corporation, which was restructured into Landmark Education LLC in 2003, and then renamed Landmark Worldwide LLC in 2013. Its subsidiary, the Vanto Group, markets and delivers training and consulting to organizations.

History

In 1985, Werner Erhard (creator of the est training which ran from 1971 to 1984) renamed est to the Landmark Forum, and changed the content to be gentler and somewhat more business oriented.[4][1][6] He promoted the idea that all events (good and bad) of an individual's life were their own making, and that individuals would be empowered when they take personal responsibility for all events in their lives, an idea based in the Human Potential Movement.[1][4] Many individuals liked this belief, whether or not it is true, or simply works as a placebo.[1] The Landmark Forum's niche was for people who did not have major psychological problems, but were nonetheless seeking self-improvement; these people constituted a very large part of society and were not served by the medical psychological establishment, which concentrated on those with mental illness.[1][2]

In 1991, Erhard sold the intellectual property rights associated with the Forum's concepts to some of his employees, (including his brother Harry Rosenberg who became CEO) who incorporated into "Landmark Education Corporation."[1][4][2][3][7] Landmark paid Erhard $3 million as an initial licensing fee, with additional payments over the next 18 years not to exceed $15 million.[5][8] The new company offered similar courses and employed many of the same staff.[9][10] The Forum was reduced in length from four days to three, and its price is about 50% of the cost of the est courses.[11] In 2001, Rosenberg stated that Landmark had completely purchased the licenses to all of Erhard's concepts and all divisions of the company.[5]

In 2003, Landmark Education Corporation was re-structured into Landmark Education LLC, and in 2013 it was renamed Landmark Worldwide LLC.[citation needed] Landmark Worldwide states that it operates as a for-profit company, whose employees own all the shares of the corporation.[12] The company states that it invests its surpluses "into making its programs, initiatives, and services more widely available."[12]

The company reported in 2019 that more than 2.4 million people had participated in its programs since 1991.[2] Landmark holds seminars in approximately 125 locations in more than 21 countries.[4][13] Landmark's revenue surpassed $100 million in 2018, with profits of about $5 million.[2][4] The organization has 500 employees, and about 7,500 volunteers, an unusually large number of volunteers for a for-profit company.[2][5] Their use of volunteers prompted three separate investigations by the United States Department of Labor, which concluded without requiring Landmark to make any changes to their practices.[2]: 1 

  1. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference Believer_2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Cite error: The named reference CSIndy_2019-07-24 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference MJ_2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Cite error: The named reference Spears_2017-03-30 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference NYMag_2001-07-09 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT_2010-11-28 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Pressman, Steven (1993). Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile. New York City: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-09296-2, p. 254. (Out of print).
  8. ^ Ney v. Landmark Education Corporation and Werner Erhard, 92-1979 (United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 1994-02-02) ("The parties calculated the value of WE&A's assets at $ 8,600,000. Landmark also acquired Erhard's stock in WE&AII, which was valued at $ 1,200,000. Landmark agreed, as payment for the WE&A assets and WE&AII stock, to assume liabilities in the amount of $ 6,800,000 and to pay an additional $ 3 million to Erhard. The agreedon downpayment of $ 300,000 was paid out of the account of WE&AII, whose stock was sold to Landmark. The $ 2,700,000 balance was to be paid by January 30, 1992, but payment was later extended and the due date delayed. Landmark obtained from Erhard a license to present the Forum for 18 years in the United States and internationally with the exception of Japan and Mexico. Erhard retained ownership of the license. The license was not assignable without Erhard's express written consent, and was to revert to Erhard after 18 years. Furthermore, under the Agreement, Erhard was promised 2% of Landmark's gross revenues payable on a monthly basis and, in addition, 50% of the net (pre-tax) profit payable quarterly. Such payments to Erhard were not to exceed a total payment of $ 15 million over the 18 year term of the license.").
  9. ^ Marshall 1997.
  10. ^ Pressman 1993, pp. 245–246, 254–255.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Time_1998-03-16 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b "Landmark Company Overview". Landmark Worldwide. Retrieved December 7, 2023. Landmark is a for-profit company 100% owned by over 600 employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and similar international plans. The organization's executive team reports to a Board of Directors that is elected annually by the ESOP.
  13. ^ See: