Psychic readings: How executives are making a fortune through psychics - Fortune

It’s well known that successful professionals have a coterie of advisers – investment advisers, leadership coaches, personal trainers – but for a small, but growing number, that network also includes so-called intuitive counselors and spiritual advisers – more commonly known as psychics. The late Apple chief Steve Jobs reportedly appointed a Zen master to serve as a corporate spiritual adviser.

“I think people would be astounded at the amount of entrepreneurs that consult people like me,” says astrologer Robert Ohotto, whose clients include high-level executives at Google GOOG . “Any entrepreneur that has been hugely successful either has a very well developed intuition of their own, or consults people who do.”

In fact, despite a few cases in which psychics were sued or prosecuted for alleged fraud, overall the psychic services industry is thriving; it has grown 2.2% from 2009 to 2014 and is projected to grow another 3% in the next four years, according to research firm IBIS World. The $1.9 billion-revenue industry consists of astrology, mediumship, palmistry and numerology, among other services.

Although the financial crisis led more Wall Street execs to seek out psychics, few like to talk about it publicly. “There is still a strong negative public stigma surrounding ‘psychics’ and ‘astrologers’ – admittedly somewhat warranted as there are many frauds or those who represent the intuitive arts in ways that are ‘woo-woo’ and off-putting,” Ohotto says. “For an executive to admit they consult a psychic opens them up to being judged as ‘woo-woo’ themselves.”

"In fact, despite a few cases in which psychics were sued or prosecuted for alleged fraud,,,"  WTF??  I think Sharon Hill over at Doubtful News may have response to that claim:

Few cases of psychic fraud? It can be argued that ALL cases of psychics that have been investigated have been deemed fraud. Just click here and find FAR more than a “few”, and that’s just a selection from 4 years. Houdini was actively uncovering psychic fraud almost a hundred years ago and we are STILL doing it today. No psychic has EVER demonstrated that their “powers” were genuine. No astrologer had shown they do ANYTHING special. They come up with nifty excuses of how their powers prevent them from winning the lottery or scoring in the stock market. They rely on gullible people to plumb up their bank accounts.

Psychic readings: How executives are making a fortune through psychics - Fortune