as in Ponzi scheme
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Recent Examples of pyramid scheme
Like a pyramid scheme, Patriot Front effectively paid for its operations by amassing new members.
—
David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2024
Both individuals orchestrated massive pyramid schemes, defrauding investors of billions.
—James Broughel, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Herbalife eventually settled the suit for about two hundred million dollars and agreed to restructure its operations; in return, the F.T.C. stopped short of calling the company a pyramid scheme, and Herbalife stayed in business.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2024
Despite the decades of bad press and costly litigation that ensued, pyramid schemes—or, to be precise, the ostensibly law-abiding companies that happen to be dead ringers for pyramid schemes—appear to be an immovable pillar of the American economy.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for pyramid scheme
David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2024
Both individuals orchestrated massive pyramid schemes, defrauding investors of billions.
—James Broughel, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Herbalife eventually settled the suit for about two hundred million dollars and agreed to restructure its operations; in return, the F.T.C. stopped short of calling the company a pyramid scheme, and Herbalife stayed in business.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2024
Despite the decades of bad press and costly litigation that ensued, pyramid schemes—or, to be precise, the ostensibly law-abiding companies that happen to be dead ringers for pyramid schemes—appear to be an immovable pillar of the American economy.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for pyramid scheme
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pyramid scheme
Noun
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In fact one of the officials of the radical John Birch Society made the exact same claim charging Social Security was a Ponzi scheme in the 1950s.—
Stanley S. Litow,
New York Daily News,
13 Apr. 2025
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Is Social Security a Ponzi scheme?—
Stanley S. Litow,
New York Daily News,
13 Apr. 2025
Noun
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To demonstrate that point in a video, a researcher told a robot arm to put a bunch of plastic grapes into a clear Tupperware container, then proceeded to shift three containers around on the table in an approximation of a shyster’s shell game.—
Eliza Strickland,
IEEE Spectrum,
12 Mar. 2025
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Because Florida officials knew the insurance companies were playing this financial shell game years ago.—
Scott Maxwell,
Sun Sentinel,
2 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pyramid scheme.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pyramid%20scheme. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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