In the world of online adult entertainment, one name reigns supreme: Pornhub.
With its expansive library of explicit content and staggering viewership, Pornhub is the undisputed king of the porn world. But behind the scenes, their rise to dominance is a dark and twisted tale of ambition, greed, and controversy.
Let’s dive into the twists and turns of how Pornhub came to be and the shady dealings behind its ownership.
The genesis
The year is 2005. The internet has been somewhat mainstream for about a decade, and, naturally, porn has been popular from the start.
Although readily available, you mostly found porn in disorganized and often shady corners of the internet. Porn sites were more like directories.
You’d visit a site like Juggworld.com, and instead of watching videos, you’d find hundreds of links directing you to other websites that hosted content. Most of it was still photos since video streaming was still in the works, and pay-per-view sites and low-quality downloads dominated the landscape.
Then came YouTube. YouTube made it ridiculously easy to host videos online. Users could upload their videos to YouTube instead of hosting them on shady servers or having to send heavy files.
2006: The rise of the replicas
With YouTube's rapid rise, similar platforms didn’t take long to pop up in adult entertainment. Platforms like RedTube and YouPorn entered the scene filled with pirated content.
These sites operated much like the early days of Napster and LimeWire. They hosted content that should have cost a fee but made it free, generating revenue through banner ads.
2007: The birth of Pornhub
In 2007, when YouTube was just starting to blow up, three Canadian college guys with a shared love for foosball and a knack for tech saw a golden opportunity.
They'd already been running directory websites that listed links to porn videos, but YouTube's success sparked an idea. Why not build their platform to host those videos directly?
They knew what content people were looking for and wanted to keep all the traffic and action (and profits!) on their site.
So, inspired by YouTube's model, they launched Pornhub. It was a game-changer, and the rest, as they say, is history.
2008 – 2009: The expansion
Pornhub quickly took off, but these college kids weren’t stopping there.
In 2008, after being inspired by the success of studios such as Vivid Entertainment (dubbed the "Hollywood of porn"), they founded BRAZZERS, a production firm. Now, they were a place for hosting content and making the content.
Fast forward to 2009, and Pornhub had become a booming business with hundreds of employees, raking in millions of dollars in revenues. Their growth was largely organic, driven by its innovative approach to content delivery and a deep understanding of user behavior.
But with success came scrutiny. The founders, fearing legal repercussions, became increasingly paranoid. There were rumors that black SUVs were following them. The government even took $9 million from one of their bank accounts.
By the end of 2009, Pornhub had become a major player in the adult entertainment industry, paving the way for MindGeek to acquire the company and drive additional growth.
One of the three founders, Matt Keezer, left the company amid this turmoil.
2010: Fabian Thylmann takes over
In 2010, Fabian Thylmann, a German entrepreneur known for his internet traffic software, acquired Pornhub through his company, Manwin. It is often said that the deal was worth $140 million, but actually, this sum included purchasing several adult websites, not just Pornhub.
Once Manwin acquired Pornhub, Thylmann set out to transform the company into a corporate powerhouse. He implemented a strategy of aggressive expansion, buying up smaller adult entertainment companies and websites, including YouPorn and RedTube.
But Thylmann also wanted to make the business look more respectable. He made deals to get official licenses for content, which meant fewer legal troubles.
And it worked! The company's profits doubled in just six months.
To further distance the company from its controversial beginnings, Thylmann rebranded Manwin as MindGeek and launched a public relations campaign promoting safe sex and networking with politicians. It was about making MindGeek look like a responsible company, not some shady backyard operation.
This was the start of Pornhub becoming a giant in the adult entertainment world.
2011 – 2012: Shady investments and debt troubles
Thylmann's ambition came at a cost. To fuel his expansion, he borrowed a whopping $362 million from private investors in 2011, hoping to make Pornhub even bigger and more profitable. Some ex-bankers were among these investors, lured by the promise of big returns.
This massive debt came with about $60 million in monthly interest payments. To make matters worse, Thylmann’s house was burned down in an arson attack. The pressure was mounting, and the stakes were higher than ever.
2013: Thylmann’s downfall
In 2012, Fabian Thylmann was arrested in Germany on tax evasion charges, which marked the beginning of his exit from the adult entertainment industry.
With the law breathing down his neck, Thylmann had to make a tough choice.
So in 2013, he sold his share in MindGeek, the company that owned Pornhub, for a measly $77 million. That's peanuts compared to the $140 million he paid for it just a few years earlier.
To put it in perspective, that's the same amount Morning Brew, a popular newsletter, sold for!
It's crazy to think that Pornhub, the sixth most-visited website in America with over 2 billion visits a month, was sold for such a low price. Talk about a bargain!
2014 – 2019: MindGeek’s dominance and controversy
After Fabian Thylmann's exit in 2013, MindGeek's ownership became a bit of a mystery. Bernd Bergmair, an Austrian businessman, is believed to have secretly acquired a controlling stake in the company.
By this point, the founders of Pornhub had moved on to other things. They scrubbed their online profiles clean of any connection to Pornhub and started focusing on charity work and new businesses. One of them, Youssef, even got into investing, inspired by the famous investor Warren Buffett, and started his own company called Valsef.
Meanwhile, under Bergmair, MindGeek kept growing, buying up other companies and becoming the biggest player in the adult entertainment industry. But this growth also brought more attention and not the good kind.
They got hit with a bunch of lawsuits, people claiming they were stealing content, mistreating performers, and even hosting illegal stuff like child sexual abuse videos. It was a messy situation, and things were about to get even messier.
2020 – 2021: The New York Times exposé and a corporate overhaul
In 2020, the world got a nasty surprise about Pornhub. The New York Times ran a story exposing some truly awful stuff on the site – videos of sexual abuse and exploitation.
This exposé sent shockwaves through the industry, sparking massive public outcry. In a scramble to save face, Pornhub took down millions of videos and tightened its rules about what kind of content was allowed. But the damage was done.
Moved by the exposé, billionaire investor, Bill Ackman, used his influence to pressure Visa and MasterCard to cut ties with Pornhub. This was a massive blow to Pornhub. This loss of payment platform forced Pornhub to implement even stricter content verification processes.
2023 – Present: A new dawn?
In 2023, MindGeek was acquired by Ethical Capital Partners, a private equity group that promised to clean up the platform's image and make it a more responsible player in the industry.
Despite their best efforts to scrub the platform clean and implement stricter content moderation, Pornhub continues to face severe criticism from the public, activists, and authorities.
In a bid for a fresh start, MindGeek rebranded itself as Aylo in August 2023. They proclaimed that this new name represented their commitment to creativity, inclusivity, and a more trustworthy platform. But can a mere name change erase years of controversy and scandal?
While efforts are being made to improve content moderation and verification, the shadow of its controversial past looms large. The company’s future remains uncertain as it navigates ongoing legal challenges and potential regulatory actions.
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Conclusion
The story of Pornhub is one of rapid rise and dramatic fall, marked by controversies, scandals, and corporate intrigue. It highlights the complexities and ethical dilemmas of the adult entertainment industry in the digital age, where the lines between legality and exploitation are often blurred.
The world is watching with keen interest as Pornhub tries to figure out how to move forward under new management.
Can it shed its shady past and become a force for good in the adult entertainment industry? Or will it forever be tainted by the sins of its past? Only time will tell.
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