1986 0511 - NYT - Crusading for Term Life Insurance [A.L. Williams], By Thomas C. Hayes - [link] --- [permalink]
''The life insurance industry has ripped off the public by complicating what is really a simple business - protection of the family breadwinner,'' said Mr. Williams.
1987 0601 - CNN / Money - The Mess Called Multi-Level Marketing With celebrities setting the bait, hundreds of pyramid-style sales companies are raking in millions, often taking in the gullible., (MONEY Magazine), By Richard Eisenberg - [link]
Speaking at a recent A.L. Williams satellite hookup, national sales director Bill Anderton shunned discussion of recruiting. ''It has the multilevel marketing image I don't feel comfortable with,'' he said. ''We call it associate development."
1988 0128 - NYT - A.L. Williams Sets Tie With Primerica - [link]
1989 0901 - The Atlanta Constitution - Calif. Won't Punish A.L. Williams Unit, by Peter Mantius --- [BonkNote]
1990 0930 - NYT - Stubbing a Toe on Primerica, By Diana B. Henriques --- [BonkNote] --- [link]
The stock market, to judge by the drubbing the company's shares have taken in the past two months, thinks that Primerica is a poor bet, in part because of emerging problems at the A. L. Williams unit.
One thing that worries Mr. Picoult is the unfolding drama at Williams, which Primerica purchased in 1988 from its controversial founder and self-styled ''coach,'' Art Williams.
For years, Mr. Williams's aggressive selling style has made him a hero to his 190,000 agents and a thorn in the flesh of his industry rivals. After the Primerica buyout, he stayed on as a sales consultant and de facto leader of the insurance operation, which produces almost a quarter of Primerica's profits.
On July 20, Mr. Williams stunned his followers by tearfully announcing that he was taking a leave of absence to deal with a Federal grand jury investigation in Florida.
The probe, according to the company, focuses on allegations of unspecified ''bad practices'' by a Williams marketing unit; others involved in the case say prosecutors are examining whether Mr. Williams or his associates played a role in fraudulently undermining a rival's business.
Primerica's fans among Wall Street analysts say the A. L. Williams issue is an ''aberration'' and ''an irrelevancy.'' But Mr. Picoult points out that Primerica's promising plan to use Mr. Williams's aggressive disciples to sell the products and services of other subsidiaries, including Commercial Credit, could be derailed by the current turmoil.
Moreover, he said, ''one wonders whether the United States Attorney's investigation could lead to review of the A. L. Williams operation in other jurisdictions by various state insurance departments, given past complaints about the company.''
1990 1111 - Asbury Park Press - The A.L. Williams Insurance Crusade, by Ames Alexander --- [BonkNote]
1990 1111 - Asbury Park Press - This Isn't Just Insurance: When A.L. Williams Pitches, Agents Listen, by Ames Alexander --- [BonkNote]
The sales troops have been without their leader since July, when Williams announced that he was taking a leave of absence to cooperate with an FBI investigation into his unorthodox insurance sales firm.
With no formal business education or corporate management experience, Williams formed his own insurance agency in 1977, teaming up with Charles D. "Boe" Adams, who was earlier convicted of stock and land fraud.
Williams now refers to Adams as the "genius" behind the operation.
Outside his Atlanta office, Williams reportedly kept a life-size portrait of Adams, bearing the inscription "The Mastermind."
1990 1111 - Asbury Park Press - States Cry Foul: A.L. Williams Has Had Several Run-ins with State Insurance Regulators Across the Country, by Ames Alexander --- [BonkNote]
1990 1111 - Asbury Park Press - Working for A.L. Williams: Like Cult or just job?, by Ames Alexander --- [BonkNote]
Steven Hassan
1988 - Book - An exposition of A.L. Williams: Cult or crusade?, by Robert M. Michael - <WishList>
1993 07 - Business Atlanta - Prime's time: A.L. Williams is nowhere in sight but his "crusade" goes on under the Primerica banner, and the insurance establishment isn't amused, by Shelley A. Lee, Vol. 22, Iss. 7, 44. - [link-<WishList>]
The new Primerica Financial Services is a company that, three years after Williams sold it to Primerica, walks a fine line between the oft-derided "commercial cult" pathos of its past and the powerful corporate-America ethos of its future.
1994 0501 - NYT - Mischief Under the Travelers Umbrella, By Michael Quint - [link]
"Over the years since Sandy Weill took charge, we have heard talk of cleaning up the old A. L. Williams image," said Alan Press, who, while a competitor as a principal in Press, Fishman & Rappaport, a New York insurance agency, is also a well-known expert on life insurance and a former head of the National Association of Life Underwriters. "But there has never been a fundamental commitment to cleaning up the act."
