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February 22, 2004
Ben Dominitz and Amway
By QBlog in
Someone sent me a link to a Richard Poe column published in June, 2003. Can Liberals Publish Conservative Books? is a lengthy and detailed account of the now defunct Prima Publishing, a conservative publishing house in a world of liberal publishers.
Poe reveals that Prima's founder, Ben Dominitz, is a Jewish immigrant who ditched his love of music (he studied violin at Juilliard) for a more financially rewarding career as an Amway "sales representative."
Dominitz built a large "downline" or sales organization with Amway, generating a residual income that continues paying out to this day, years after Dominitz’s "retirement" from the Amway business.However, it wasn't the Amway riches that impacted Dominitz but the culture of "patriotism, family values and self-improvement" that shaped his conservative ideology.
It was apparently that experience with Amway that helped encourage Dominitz to create Prima Publishing in 1984. By 2000, Prima had grown to $100 million in annual sales.
The column isn't really about Amway at all but I thought it was interesting to see how Amway fit into the creation of Prima Publishing and Dominitz's entrepreneurial spirit. To many, Amway is simply a method to reach other goals. At the writing of the column Dominitz had officially retired and was playing his violin once again.