In a statement on Market America’s Twitter account, the company said: “Market America has lost its great visionary, and the world has lost a passionate human being who believed in other people even more than they believed in themselves.” 

Thirty years ago, the founders of Market America had a crystal ball moment—a vision for referral tracking that could propel entrepreneurs farther than any traditional network marketing company had promised before. Today, JR and Loren Ridinger and the Market America team are once again looking to the future, eager to evolve the online marketplace they’ve been shaping for the last three decades.

The names say it all. Walt Disney. Henry Ford. James Cash Penney. Iconic Founders and CEOs who came to personify the brands they led in the minds and hearts of their employees and the world. This phenomenon is perhaps even more prevalent in direct selling, where there is a long and storied tradition of charismatic leaders who have become synonymous with the companies they helm.