By lipigesic Karim Mahmoud joined The Real World expecting to get rich — but instead found himself ensnared in an exploitative scheme that could derail his life. Now, he’s trying to warn others.
Personal Growth: Andrew Tate’s Impactful Messages in “The Real World
Described as “the world’s most advanced online business academy,” The Real World is an education platform that claims to teach members how to build wealth by creating their own online businesses. The program offers a treasure trove of resources and daily videos with advanced business instruction and mentorship from “professors” who Andrew Tate handpicked himself. The professors, who all have at least a million dollars in profits with their selected business models, promise to teach students the same strategies that have made them millions.
But critics say the site’s true function is to operate like a pyramid scheme, generating income for Tate and his followers principally by recruiting new students. In July, Nathan Pope, a 34-year-old Australian, launched a petition calling for app stores and companies that process online subscription payments to The Real World to cease working with the program on the grounds that it appears to be an illegal pyramid scheme financially exploiting vulnerable young men and boys.
In his petition, Pope says The Real World instructors use “intimidating and often aggressive rhetoric” and push students to work unsustainably long hours — recommending that some students sleep just three hours a night — and that they recruit as many of their peers into the program as possible. He also warns that members are frequently upsold to The Real World’s sister network, called The War Room, where they receive instruction on how to generate wealth by grooming women into sex trafficking.