David Bevan and Jane Clark

Dates of Herbalife Distributorship: 1990s – present
Status in Herbalife: Chairman’s Club
Business Methods: Training Videos, Calls and Presentations; Online Recruiting Businesses; Recruiting Scripts

All statements in this report are made pursuant to Pershing Square’s disclaimer, available at http://factsaboutherbalife.com/disclaimer/.

Background on Herbalife-Related Businesses

• B.I.G. Business Systems Ltd. (“B.I.G.”) is a business operated by David Bevan and Jane Clark that provides members with digital tools for recruiting new Herbalife distributors, training services, and guidance on how to shelter Herbalife-related earnings from taxation authorities.  B.I.G. stands for “Bevan International Group.” Bevan Exhibit A at 62.  The business was incorporated in February 2013 (Company Number:  08514845, registration filing attached as Bevan Exhibit B)[1], and is believed to be a successor to B.I.G. Entrepreneurs U.K. Limited (see infra).  While publicly available U.K. business registrations do not include names of owners, Bevan and Clark are listed as the company’s sole directors at http://companycheck.co.uk/company/08514845/BIG-BUSINESS-SYSTEMS-LIMITED.  In addition, an “Herbalife Business Prospectus” issued by B.I.G. in 2010 states that “The Bevan International Group was founded by David Bevan and Jane Clark 10 years ago.”  Bevan Exhibit A at 62.  The registration filing uses the address Botanical House, 15 Guy’s Cliffe Road, Leamington Spa, Warks, England CV32 5BZ.  .  The registration filing lists the company’s status as “Active.”  Id. Bevan Exhibit B  The company’s website is available at http://www.joinbig.co.uk/index.htm.
  • Herbalife-related businesses Herbalife Home Business Tour (http://www.hbitl.net/) and Arriba! Wellness Clubs (http://www.arribaclubs.co.uk/) (see infra), both state on their websites that “These materials were prepared by and are the responsibility of independent distributors – B.I.G. Marketing, 44 Dover Rd, Walmer, Kent, CT14 7JW, UK.”  We believe B.I.G. Marketing may simply be shorthand for Bevan’s and Clark’s B.I.G. Business Systems entity.
  • The following additional business are believed to be part of Bevan’s and Clark’s “B.I.G.” brand:[2]
    • B.I.G. Entrepreneurs U.K. Limited (Company Number:  06459396, registration filing attached as Bevan Exhibit C), which is believed to be a predecessor to B.I.G. Business Systems, was liquidated due to insolvency on December 19, 2011, and effectively merged into B.I.G. Business Systems.  The registration filing uses the address 24 Conduit Place, London W2 1EP.  Id.

    http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/60132/pages/8470.

    • B.I.G. Investments Limited was a holding company that was incorporated in 2001 and dissolved in 2009 (Company Number:  04182419, registration filing attached as Bevan Exhibit D).
    • B.I.G. Chartering Limited was a boat chartering business that was incorporated in 2001 and dissolved in 2011 (Company Number:  04182197, registration filing attached as Bevan Exhibit E).  The registration filing uses the address 24 Conduit Place, London W2 1EP—the same address listed on the registration filing for B.I.G. Entrepreneurs U.K.
    • B.I.G. Heli-Charter Limited was a helicopter chartering business that was incorporated in 2001 and dissolved in 2011 (Company Number:  04275208, registration filing attached as Bevan Exhibit F).  The registration filing uses the address 24 Conduit Place, London W2 1EP—the same address listed on the registration filing for B.I.G. Entrepreneurs U.K.
• Arriba! Wellness Clubs (“Arriba!”) is an Herbalife nutrition club business operated by Bevan and Clark, through B.I.G.  The business was incorporated in 2010, and is presently “Active” (Company Number:  07286277, registration filing attached as Bevan Exhibit G).  The registration filing uses the address Botanical House, 15 Guy’s Cliffe Road, Leamington Spa, Warks, England CV32 5BZ—the same address listed on the registration filing for B.I.G. Business Systems.  The company’s website is available at http://www.arribaclubs.co.uk/.
  • Additional links to B.I.G. can be found on both the Arriba! website, which, as mentioned above, states that the site’s “materials were prepared by and are the responsibility of independent distributors – B.I.G. Marketing,” and the 2010 B.I.G. Herbalife Business Prospectus (the “Business Prospectus”), which lists “Arriba! Magazine” as a B.I.G. “business tool.”  See Bevan Exhibit A at 66, 71.

Primary Source Data on Business Practices

Videos

• Bevan and Clark appear in videos promoting B.I.G. and the Herbalife business opportunity.[3]
  • In part one of a series of B.I.G. promotional videos entitled “Work From Home—Herbalife Network Marketing,” Bevan and Clark tout the extravagant lifestyle the Herbalife business opportunity has afforded them.  The video opens with Bevan and Clark driving a red Ferrari to their large country home.  After recounting his rags-to-riches Herbalife story, Bevan states that without Herbalife, “we probably wouldn’t be in a half-a-million pound house driving quarter-a-million pound cars as we do today.”  (2:10.)
  • Bevan and Clark then present their audience with claims of immediate income growth upon their entry into the Herbalife business opportunity.  Bevan notes that “within my first nine days, I’d made an extra £360.  And the first month, an extra £1,500.  I just couldn’t believe it.  Now from the £1,500, within four months, I got my income up to well over £3,500.  It was absolutely incredible   (2:39-2:54.)  Bevan later states that they have now taken their “turnover to nearly half-a-million a month.”  (6:11.)  Clark notes that “in my first month, I made about £400, again like David . . . .  And in my third month, I couldn’t believe it, but my profit was £4,800 around my existing job (4:24-4:46.).  Referencing his former profession, as compared to Herbalife, Bevan further claims that “my probability for success is a lot greater with this company than it is ever being an electrician.”  (3:24.)
  • Bevan and Clark continue on to describe, in greater detail, the Herbalife “lifestyle.”  Clark profiles the couple’s new house.  (6:36-7:33).  “I just walk around the house and, sort of, I can’t believe how lucky I am,” says Clark.  “And really, if it wasn’t for this business, we certainly wouldn’t be enjoying what we’re enjoying with this property if we hadn’t taken advantage of [the Herbalife business opportunity].”  (6:58-7:11.)  Bevan than describes their “toys.”  “[I]t was crazy, it was unbelievable, I mean, we were able to pay cash for a £80,000 pound Ferrari.  It was a lifelong dream of mine.  And then we were able to buy, well as a Christmas present for Jane, her favorite car in the entire world, a 911 Porsche Carrera.  It was absolutely fantastic.  We had it built specially for us.  And, you know, you should have seen her face.  It was one the best presents I think I could ever have bought anybody.  And we do play a lot, and we socialize a lot, we go out jet-skiing a lot.  And it’s absolutely fantastic.  It really is a life, it’s all you dream, really.”  (7:34-8:25.)  Clark concludes by telling the audience, “It’s unbelievable what you can have with this company.”

  

  • Transitioning into the second part of the video series (though still in the first video), which focuses on the B.I.G.  “support systems,” Bevan notes that Clark and he “chose the fastest growing company in one of the fastest growing industries in the world—health and nutrition.”  (9:17-9:24.)

  

  • In the second part of the video series, Bevan tells potential recruits about the “support” system provided by B.I.G., including regional “training seminars,” “organization weekends,” “interactive TouchFON communication system” enabling members to make “one call and speak to your whole organization,” and “full e-commerce and internet packages” operated by an entity called Business Coach (described at 1:38-2:16) which, as the owners explain, “work[s] closely with David and Jane, and the B.I.G. organization, to establish the real benefits of the internet to the group.  The internet package consists of a suite of three websites focused on recruitment, retailing, and training.”  Bevan then goes on to tout the organization’s “proven direct mail order system.”  “From the mailing lists, the leads that came in with quality people was absolutely mind-boggling,” Bevan says.  Bevan attributes the growth in his “turnover” to £350,000 per month to the supposed efficacy of this mail order system over which B.I.G. has “exclusive rights.”  (2:18-3:24.)
  • Bevan then notes that the organization set up a “credit card facility . . . that allowed a lot of our guys to get started very, very quickly.”  (4:21-4:51.)  Encouraging new recruits to go into debt is a common tactic among senior Herbalife distributors recruiting new people who may not be able to afford the Herbalife business opportunity.  See, e.g., Bergs Report, pp. 9-10 (e-Team recruiting scripts encourage recruits to go into debt in order to “qualify” for higher levels of the Herbalife marketing plan); Michael Burton Report, p. 9-10 (referring to his wife and himself, Burton notes that “we decided to leverage ourselves and put our 4000 volume point supervisor order on the one and only credit card that we had left and now as I look back, that is the smartest business decision I ever made in my life.”).
  • Bevan continues, introducing the organization’s accountant, from a firm called DSL accounting, and investment advisor, from a firm called the J. Rothschild Partnership.  The accountant tells the audience that he will make sure “that the money you are earning is kept away from the hands of [HM] Revenue [& Customs].”  Similarly, the investment advisor states that he will ensure “the capital [distributors are] earning . . .  is being invested in very tax-efficient on-shore and off-shore investments.”  (4:54-7:09.)

  

  • In the third part of the B.I.G. video series, Bevan and Clark profile members of their organization, featuring first-person testimonials.  The testimonials first focus on the effectiveness of the products (with one participant noting that her partner, who was “very underweight,” actually “gained weight on the products”).  (0:00 – 2:14.)  The testimonials then shift to the “transformation in lifestyle” experienced by B.I.G. distributors.  Participants describe the upgraded homes and cars, as well as increased free time, the Herbalife business opportunity has provided them.  (2:15-5:43.)  The video concludes with Bevan and Clark standing next to their red Ferrari in front of their home and telling potential recruits that “opportunity is never lost, it’s just found by someone who’s more ready.  You are ready.  Otherwise you wouldn’t have watched the video.  So make the call today.  Let’s go.  We look forward to working with you.”  (6:38-6:47.)

  

Recruiting Materials

• B.I.G. offers a number of recruiting tools through the website http://www.bigtrainingsite.com:
  • Training calls with Bevan (e.g., http://www.bigtrainingsite.com/t1029-recruitment-calls-training-with-david-bevan#2433)
  • Training webinars (e.g., http://www.bigtrainingsite.com/t7898-update-herbalife-opportunity-webinar)
  • Advertisements for Herbalife Opportunity Meetings (HOM) (e.g., http://www.bigtrainingsite.com/t6615-dublin-premium-hom-thursday-1st-august).
• Herbalife Home Business Tour is another B.I.G. recruiting website (http://www.hbitl.net/), which provides scripts and other recruiting-related tools to members of the B.I.G. organization.

http://www.joinbig.co.uk/recruit_sites.htm.

• In one recruiting script entitled “Getting the most from your Conversations,” attached as Bevan Exhibit H and available at http://www.hbitl.net/training3.0/buildingbusiness/PDF/BYB%20-%20Succesfull%20Conversations.pdf, Bevan and Clark tell distributors that “[b]efore you can get people to do what you want them to do, you must find out WHAT will motivate them to do it. . . .  You then simply tell them what THEY want to hear.”  They encourage distributors to “[a]sk YES questions” and “[d]evelop the skills of designing questions, which finish with you RECEIVING THE ANSWERS YOU WANT TO HEAR,” noting that such questions “result in PAYMENT.”  The script concludes with guidelines “to help [distributors] with making a successfull [sic] conversation . . . ,” including:  “Let [the target] know its [sic] natural and commen [sic] sense to do as you suggest”; and “Make it very attractive by staking up everything THEY WANT on the side of agreeing to do what you suggest.”
• In another set of recruiting scripts, Bevan and Clark focus on training their distributors to “build[] rapport, build[] trust” with potential recruits.
  • In the script entitled “Recruitment – 1st Call,” attached as Bevan Exhibit I and available at http://www.hbitl.net/Training3.0/recruiting/recruit2/HBT/Home%20Business%20Tour%20Site%201st%20Call%20Script.doc, Bevan and Clark note that “[t]he aim of this call is to build rapport with the prospect, qualify them, explain enough to get them interested and direct them to your Home Business Tour Site with a sense of urgency.  This is a short call approx 5 mins!”  After providing some introductory testimonials about his or her life and supposed experience with the Herbalife business opportunity, the distributor is told to say, “Now I am helping find serious, teachable, hard-working people and show them how to earn a p/t income of just £500-£1500 per month and right now I am looking for just a handful of people who want to do that.”
  • In the script entitled “Recruitment – 2nd Call,” attached as Bevan Exhibit J and available at http://www.hbitl.net/Training3.0/recruiting/recruit2/HBT/Home%20Business%20Tour%20Site%202nd%20Call%20Script.doc, Bevan and Clark tell distributors not to answer questions like, “How does it work?” and “What do I have to do?”  The script also encourages recruits to join the “Business Launch Programme” (BLP) by going to the website www.joinbig.co.uk.  The script concludes by telling distributors to “Sell [recruits] product – Book them into an ROM [Regional Opportunity Meeting] – take them online to sign up for BLP RIGHT THERE AND THEN!”
• Additional recruiting scripts and audio training tools can be found at  http://www.hbitl.net/Training3.0/ConversationsAndScripts/index.asp.
• In 2003, Bevan and Clark prepared an e-book for potential recruits, attached as Bevan Exhibit K and available at http://www.hbitl.net/presentationsitev1/ebook/rEbook.pdf.  The e-book sets forth the substantial—and immediate—progression of Bevan’s income after he undertook the Herbalife business opportunity.  Id. at 2 (“If an Ex-electrician like David Bevan can build monthly cheques like these: . . .  You can too!  Regardless of YOUR background!”).  The e-book further presents deceptive claims about the success of “home-based businesses,” asserting that “90% – of all work at home businesses succeed in their first year.”  Id. at 10.  At the conclusion of the e-book, Bevan and Clark “DARE [potential recruits] TO SUCCEED,” saying, “Here’s the bottom line.  You either want to be wealthy or you don’t, you either want to provide for yourself and your family with the time freedom you deserve or you don’t. . . .  Deleting this e-book and doing nothing will not change your life.  If you thought you had all the answers you simply would not have read this e-book. . . .  PREPARE TO SUCCEED!”  Id. at 25.

• B.I.G. produced an Herbalife Business Prospectus in 2010, attached as Bevan Exhibit A and available at http://www.hbitl.net/Training3.0/Retailing/retail2/Pitch%20Book/Pitch%20Book%20Updated%2011_10_10.pdf,  highlighting the “benefits” of becoming an Herbalife distributor within the B.I.G. organization.  The Prospectus provides “Example Income” scenarios for distributors seeking to build a downline and receive “Passive / Residual” income through “Duplication.”  Id. at 52, 53.  The Prospectus continues, noting the “Potential Monthly Incomes” as you rise up the Herbalife marketing plan, listing, for example, “£8,000-£20,000” for Millionaire Team members and “£20,000+” for President’s Team members.  Id. at 55.  Readers are then shown “B.I.G. Success Stories,” where Bevan and Clark advertise the alleged substantial incomes of B.I.G. participants working from home, ranging from £2,000 to £18,000 per month.  Finally, the Prospectus turns to the “The B.I.G. Advantage,” listing the organization’s marketing and recruiting tools, online and business management systems, and training events all in an attempt to sell the B.I.G. “Business Launch Programme” to new recruits for £199.  Id. at 61-67, 71-72.

 

• Bevan maintains active Twitter (https://twitter.com/DavidBevanHLF) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DavidBevanUK) websites to communicate with his downline distributors.  Bevan and Clark maintain an additional joint Facebook site to do the same (https://www.facebook.com/DavidBevanHerbalife).
  • These public-facing websites are also used to aggressively promote the Herbalife lifestyle:

  

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1083774026923.

https://twitter.com/DavidBevanHLF/status/300699527978037248/photo/1.

Nutrition Clubs

• Bevan and Clark operate Arriba! Wellness Clubs—a business that offers marketing/branding and recruiting tools to B.I.G. distributors seeking to pursue the Herbalife nutrition club business model.  According to the B.I.G. website, the Arriba! Wellness Clubs website (http://www.arribaclubs.co.uk/) provides distributors with the means to recruit additional club leaders:

http://www.joinbig.co.uk/recruit_sites.htm.

• There are three “qualification” levels that determine a distributor’s “Arriba! system privileges.”  See Bevan Exhibit L, available at http://www.hbitl.net/Training3.0/ArribaQs/pdf/Arriba!%20-%203%20Levels%20Of%20Qualification%204.pdf.  A B.I.G. distributor’s access to Arriba! marketing and recruiting tools (including “[p]ermission to use the Arriba! Brand to enhance the marketing and running of [the distributor’s] Weight Loss Challenge”) is dependent on that distributor’s placement in the Herbalife marketing plan and whether that distributor has met other specific B.I.G. organizational requirements.  In other words, a distributor’s ability to utilize the Arriba! system is tied to how much money that distributor makes for Bevan and Clark.
• A video promoting the Arriba! Wellness Clubs opportunity, available at https://vimeo.com/user24651359/review/94015610/5015de0190 begins by introducing the Herbalife business opportunity generally.[4]  With rain and lightning in the background, the video spells out the following sentences:  “Once in a life time something comes along.  A perfect storm of opportunity   . . . .  [B]etween 2008 and 2016 10 Million New Millionaire Households will be created by the converging trends of Wellness and Network Marketing.”  Under the label of “Support,” the video flashes “B.I.G. Business System,” showing screenshots of B.I.G. websites.  The video then says, “Imagine if There was a way to harness this perfect storm.  Welcome to Arriba! Wellness Clubs.”  There is a montage of photo-shopped images of Arriba! advertisements across the U.K.  This montage is followed by specious claims regarding income potential for Arriba! participants, as the video states that “[i]n the next 12 months We will help 1,000 people create 30,000 a year part time incomes and We will help 25 people create 300,000 a year income and become presidents team members!”  The video then concludes, telling the viewer that “[t]he choice is yours.  What do you want to be?”

• A poster for a 2010 Arriba! event explicitly links the business to Herbalife and B.I.G.

http://www.hbitl.net/training3.0/febbyb.pdf.

• The Herbalife Home Business Tour website also provides a sample “Nutrition Club Party Agenda,” attached as Bevan Exhibit M and available at http://www.hbitl.net/Training3.0/Retailing/retail2/Nutrition%20Clubs/training%20your%20team/monthly%20party/Eng_Agenda.pdf.  The Agenda begins by introducing new recruits to Herbalife products before later transitioning to a sales pitch of the Herbalife business opportunity.  Distributors are told to “sell [recruits] the Herbalife opportunity, the future, their dreams and goals. . . .  Have [recruits] pay IBP [International Business Package] right away on the spot . . . refer guests who invited them and Distributor gets the cash; then we explain we are going to show how to get the different discounts and how to make money . . . no time to do the paper work.”  The Agenda concludes by encouraging distributors to plug the multi-level Herbalife marketing plan.  “[F]ocus on the big picture . . . then celebrate the higher places on the marketing plan.”

Links to Other Senior Distributors

• B.I.G.’s Herbalife Home Business Tour website hosts a number of documents from Financial Success System (FSS), the business operated by Chairman’s Club member Doran Andry.  See http://www.hbitl.net/Training3.0/Retailing/retail2/Nutrition_Clubs130510.asp.  These FSS documents include:
  • The schedule for the FSS “call and training system” (http://www.hbitl.net/Training3.0/Retailing/retail2/Nutrition%20Clubs/training%20your%20team/fss/FSS_System.pdf)
  • Andry’s presentation on training for nutrition club operators (http://www.hbitl.net/Training3.0/Retailing/retail2/Nutrition%20Clubs/training%20your%20team/nc%20training/Eng_OperatorsTraining.ppt)
  • Andry’s “Herbalife Success University” training documents (http://www.hbitl.net/Training3.0/Retailing/retail2/Nutrition%20Clubs/training%20your%20team/university/HSU_Outline.pdf)
  • Guides for starting a nutrition club (e.g. (http://www.hbitl.net/Training3.0/Retailing/retail2/Nutrition%20Clubs/how%20to%20start/pre%20grand%20opening/NC_GrandOpening.pdf)
  • Code of Conduct (http://www.hbitl.net/Training3.0/Retailing/retail2/Nutrition%20Clubs/how%20to%20start/codes%20and%20processes/Eng_CodeOfConduct.pdf)
• Bevan and Clark state that there are three other President’s Team members that are part of the B.I.G. organization:  Jeff & Debbie Williams, Tony & Gerry Mears, and Derrick & Jo Sladden.  See http://www.hbitl.net/login/big.html.  Bevan and Clark are Chairman’s Club members.
• Bevan and Clark also frequently appear at Herbalife-sponsored events with other Herbalife senior distributors.

Clark with Founder’s Circle member Leslie Stanford (right), available at https://www.facebook.com/DavidBevanHerbalife/photos_albums#!/DavidBevanHerbalife/photos/a.199037813448217.49686.198996730118992/199043693447629/.

Bevan with Chairman’s Club member and Herbalife board member John Tartol (right), available at https://twitter.com/DavidBevanHLF/status/301997103469711362/photo/1.

Bevan and Clark with Chairman’s Club member Dan Waldron (left), available at https://www.facebook.com/DavidBevanHerbalife/photos_albums#!/DavidBevanHerbalife/photos/a.199037813448217.49686.198996730118992/199043720114293/.

Bevan with Chairman’s Club member Pedro Cardoso (left), available at https://www.facebook.com/DavidBevanHerbalife?fref=ts#!/DavidBevanHerbalife/photos/pb.198996730118992.-2207520000.1395070780./199043823447616/.

Bevan with Chairman’s Club member Alan Lorenz (right), available at https://www.facebook.com/DavidBevanHerbalife/photos/a.199037813448217.49686.198996730118992/199043593447639/#!/DavidBevanHerbalife/photos/a.199037813448217.49686.198996730118992/199043626780969/.

Bevan with President’s Team member Russell Gain (left) and Chairman’s Club member Stephan Gratziani (right), available at https://www.facebook.com/DavidBevanHerbalife/photos_albums#!/DavidBevanHerbalife/photos/a.199037813448217.49686.198996730118992/199043593447639/.

• President’s Team member Chris Birks is Bevan and Clark’s upline.

https://twitter.com/DavidBevanHLF/status/312982306946162688.

• Birks’ LinkedIn website, attached as Bevan Exhibit N and available at http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-birks/34/330/239, states that he has “been active with Herbalife for over 20 years [since 1993].”  The site further notes that Birks has “over 300 team leaders that spans 24 countries, and generates multi-millions in monthly sales.”
• In November 2013, Herbalife announced that Bevan and Clark had qualified for Chairman’s Club status.  See Bevan Exhibit O, available at http://www.herbalifemail.com/1new/flyers/2013_newcc_davidbevan_janeclark_usen.pdf.

Links to Herbalife Corporate Leadership

• In November 2013, Herbalife announced that Bevan and Clark had qualified for Chairman’s Club status.  See Bevan Exhibit O, available at http://www.herbalifemail.com/1new/flyers/2013_newcc_davidbevan_janeclark_usen.pdf.

Bevan and Clark receiving Chairman’s Club pins from Herbalife President Des Walsh at the Herbalife Honors event in Hawaii on March 20, 2014, available at https://www.facebook.com/sharon.peterman.9/posts/10152284012674417?stream_ref=10.

• Herbalife has awarded Bevan and Clark the Mark Hughes Bonus Award—a large, discretionary bonus that Herbalife awards to top distributors—multiple times, most recently in 2013.

https://twitter.com/DavidBevanHLF/status/313045516843884544.

• Bevan and Clark have appeared many times at Herbalife-sponsored events with top Herbalife executives.

Bevan and Clark with Herbalife Chairman and CEO Michael O. Johnson (right), available at https://www.facebook.com/DavidBevanHerbalife#!/DavidBevanHerbalife/photos/a.198996943452304.49660.198996730118992/378019935550003/.

Bevan with Michael O. Johnson, available at  https://www.facebook.com/DavidBevanUK#!/photo.php?fbid=1083892789892.

Bevan and Clark with Herbalife founder Mark Hughes, available at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1083792067374.

Bevan and Clark with Mark Hughes, available at https://www.facebook.com/DavidBevanHerbalife#!/DavidBevanHerbalife/photos/a.198996943452304.49660.198996730118992/378017328883597/.

 

[The photos of Bevan and Clark with Mark Hughes were posted on Facebook in 2009 and 2011, but obviously were taken some time prior to Hughes’ death in 2000.]