The Bronfman sisters' ties to NXIVM go back almost two decades, with Vanity Fair reporting in 2010 that in six years they had taken more than $150 million out of their trusts and bank accounts for the cause, including $66 million to help bail Raniere out of financial trouble, $11 million for a 22-seater jet, and millions to aid NXIVM's legal battles when it would go after perceived enemies(or "suppressives") in court.
A friend of the sisters told Vanity Fair, "They're more cognizant than you'd think, given the amount of money involved. I think there are personal reasons regarding the conflict they have with their family that keep them affiliated with nxivm. On some level, I think they feel the affiliation is reinforcing their version of things, in opposition to the opinion of their family. I think all the legal, litigious craziness is all about them trying to win this battle with their father."
"I think it's a cult," Edgar Bronfman Sr. told Forbes in 2003 for a profile on Raniere, telling the magazine that his daughters had spent millions on Raniere's Executive Success Program (the self-improvement program that became NXIVM in 2002) and he hadn't spoken to them in months. Edgar had attended a seminar and reported past participants in the program also included BET co-founder Sheila Johnson, interim Enron CEO Stephen Cooper and former U.S. Surgeon General Antonia C. Novello. Virgin Group mogul Richard Branson's name has come up in the conversation, but a rep for the British billionaire told The Daily Beast earlier this year that he had no association with Raniere or NXIVM whatsoever, and that Sara Bronfman had merely once booked his private Necker Island for an event.
Sara Bronfman told Forbes she started taking courses in 2002, after her marriage broke up, and had since been promoted to the rank of coach and worked for ESP full-time.
Even heiresses are out there seeking answers.
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