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Posted: 4:15 PM- Denis Waitley, a California author and motivational speaker, will not stand for re-election to USANA's board of directors after acknowledging his education credentials are exaggerated in government filings made by the publicly-traded supplements company.
Waitley does not, as stated in documents sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission, have a master's degree from the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, Calif., Salt Lake City-based USANA said Friday in a statement.
The company noted Waitley, whose term ends April 17, informed USANA of the error. In a phone interview, spokesman Joe Poulos would comment on whether USANA erred in the filing or Waitley misled the company.
But the company's ethics policy states that employees and directors who prepare reports and public disclosures "shall take reasonable steps to ensure that they are materially accurate and complete."
The acknowledgment was made after the markets closed Friday, but not before the discrepancy was reported on the Web site of the Fraud Discovery Institute. USANA's stock nosedived $3.52 to $46.87 per share - its lowest level since Nov. 17.
The San Diego-based Fraud Discovery Institute is operated by Barry Minkow, a stock-fraud felon turned private investigator. His recently- released critique of USANA prompted an informal SEC investigation into the company and led USANA to sue him for defamation.
Poulos would not comment on whether USANA knew of problems with Waitley's resume before Minkow revealed them on his Web site.
Waitley did not respond to a phone message and e-mail seeking comment Saturday. His company Web site shows he is speaking at a corporate event in Las Vegas.
Waitley joined USANA's board in May 2000. He has served as a company consultant and spokesperson since September 1996, according to SEC documents. The consulting contract pays him $150 per year and expires in September 2008. Waitley's departure from the board will not affect his consulting work, spokesman Poulos said.
Waitley schedules speaking engagements and promotes his books and audio programs - titles like "The Psychology of Winning" and "Secrets of Self-Made Multi-Millionaires" - through his Rancho Santa Fe company, The Waitley Institute. On his Web site, Waitley boasts that he has counseled POWs, Superbowl champions and Olympic athletes.
The site does not, however, say he has a master's degree. Nor do earlier reincarnations examined by The Salt Lake Tribune. It does list a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and a Ph.D. in human behavior from La Jolla University.
A company hired by USANA critic Minkow said the bachelor's degree checks out, but a master's degree does not.
Furthermore, Checkmate Investigative Services could find no record of La Jolla University in its databases of current accredited institutions of higher learning. Nor does the school appear in the databases of the State of California Bureau for Private Post- Secondary & Vocational Education, Checkmate found.
"Despite extensive database searches, no working telephone number was found for this school," it said. "Accordingly, it was not possible to verify that the search subject graduated with the stated degree from this institution."