He co-founded Nxivm (pronounced NEX-ee-um) with Nancy Salzman near Albany, N.Y., in the 1990s as a self-help organization. At the trial, witnesses described Mr. Raniere’s views of women as deeply misogynistic. Although he had simultaneous sexual relationships with up to a dozen women within Nxivm, those women were told they could only have sex with him. Mr. Raniere also directed Daniela to obtain the user names and passwords for email accounts belonging to people he saw as enemies of Nxivm, prosecutors wrote. Among them was the liquor magnate Edgar Bronfman, who had referred to Nxivm as a “cult” and whose daughter, Clare, acted as one of Mr. Raniere’s chief deputies and subsidized some Nxivm activities.

Source: New York Times August 28, 2020 20:37 UTC