High pin-level Amway distibutors didn't get to their pin levels outside of an AMO.
AMO's are recruiting machines - meaning recruiting (sponsoring) is their primary activity and purpose. Such an emphasis is a violation of Federal Trade Commission rules.
AMO's place only a token importance on the retailing of Amway products.
AMO's emphasize recruiting and use an arsenal of specious tricks, deceptions and manipulative tactics to facilitate recruiting.
The emphasis on recruiting is the only way large organizations of distributors can be formed.
Large organizations of distributors are necessary for the process that generates profits exponentially up the levels of sponsorship to create wealth for a select few at the top.
How AMO's generate revenues and wealth for a few:
1. AMO's create profit not primarily by retailing Amway products but by mentally conditioning all member distributors to do what is called "personal use" which means that a distributor BUYS everything he or she may need ONLY from Amway catalogs. Non-Amway-produced or warehoused products are considered "NEGATIVE" because one can't get a bonus check as a reward for buying them. Eventually the idea of buying a product at a store becomes abhorrant and is a condemned behavior in AMO's. So a large organization that essentially does "personal use" is a profoundly profitable one for the higher distributors in it.
2. AMO's also generate wealth for a select few at the top through the sale of motivational tapes and meetings to their Amway distributor members. The majority of Diamond and above income is produced through motivation sales.
AMO king-pins lead prospects and new recruits to believe that their wealth and lavish lifestyles are the result of "Building a strong Amway business". This spiel is why most people buy distributorships. However, motivation sales is the main source of revenue and profit for AMO leaders. If they were upfront about this then their recruiting efforts would be highly ineffective and AMO's would fail. So the trick/lie/deception/withhold regarding the primary sourse of income is perpetuated for the sake of greed.
In summary, the illegal emphasis on recruiting is what produces the millionaire distributors in AMO's. To create millionaires, large organizations need to be recruited and conditioned to do "personal use" and faithfully buy motivation. Amway enjoys a continued exponential revenue growth as a windfall of the "personal use" aspect of AMOS' illegal emphasis on recruiting over retailing. This is why Amway tacitly condones the existence and practices of AMO's.