Bernd Bergmair

Last updated

Bernd Bergmair (also spelled Bernard Bergemar, born 1968 in Linz [1] ) is an Austrian businessman. He is one of the majority owners of privately held MindGeek, the Luxembourg-based conglomerate behind popular porn sites such as Pornhub. [2] [3] [4] Although he is not mentioned in the company's corporate filings, a report by the Financial Times revealed that Bergemar is MindGeek's largest beneficiary thanks to a "complex network of subsidiaries" in which he owns a large percentage of the shares. [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Early life

He grew up as the son of farmers in Ansfelden, attended grammar school in Linz and transferred to HLBLA St. Florian. [8] He then studied at the University of Linz, graduating in 1992 with a thesis on a topic related to corporate acquisition: Evaluation of corporations and financing strategies in connection with M & A, LBO and MBO. [9] He worked for Goldman Sachs in New York, before working in Frankfurt am Main, Hong Kong and London. In 2006 he became the owner of the porn website RedTube and in 2013 he sold the site to Manwin, now known as Mindgeek. [8]

MindGeek

In December 2020, the Financial Times published a report on MindGeek's ownership, revealing that Bergmair or "Bernard Bergemar" as he had used in court documents was the company's majority owner. The Financial Times report prompted a parliamentary inquiry into Pornhub's practices in Canada, in which MindGeek directors and minority owners David Tassillo and Feras Antoon named a "Bernard Bergemar" as the principal owner. He owned more than half of the shares, but was a passive investor and not involved in the day-to-day business. British research platform Tortoise Media and Austrian magazine Dossier cooperated on an investigation. [8] [10] [11] [12]

Company records showed Bergemar lived in China, but was found to be actually living in a mansion in London after the investigation by Tortoise Media. [13] [14] Soon after, his Brazilian wife Priscila Bergmair told The Sunday Times that she wanted her husband to cut ties with the company. [15] [16] [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leveraged buyout</span> Acquired control over a company by the purchase of its shares with borrowed money

A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money (leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loans, along with the assets of the acquiring company. The use of debt, which normally has a lower cost of capital than equity, serves to reduce the overall cost of financing the acquisition.

An age verification system, also known as an age gate, is any technical system that externally verifies a person's age. These systems are used primarily to restrict access to content classified, either voluntarily or by local laws, as being inappropriate for users under a specific age, such as alcohol, tobacco, gambling, video games with objectionable content, pornography, or to remain in compliance with online privacy laws that regulate the collection of personal information from minors, such as COPPA in the United States.

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), previously known as Morality in Media and Operation Yorkville, is an American conservative anti-pornography organization. The group has also campaigned against sex trafficking, same-sex marriage, sex shops and sex toys, decriminalization of sex work, comprehensive sex education, and various works of literature or visual arts the organization has deemed obscene, profane or indecent. Its current president is Patrick A. Trueman. The organization describes its goal as "exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YouPorn</span> Free pornographic video sharing website

YouPorn is a free pornographic video sharing website that launched in August 2006.

RedTube is a pornographic video sharing site, which in September 2009 held an Alexa ranking within the world's top 100 sites. It is one of several pornographic websites owned by Aylo. In June 2010 it had fallen out of the top 100, but it made a return in mid-2012. As of mid September 2020 its Alexa ranking was 520. Its popularity has been ascribed to its non-sexual name, which is a reference to the non-pornographic video sharing website YouTube. The website is based in Houston, Texas and has servers in San Francisco, New Orleans and Montreal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xtube</span> Pornographic video hosting and social networking site

Xtube was a Canadian pornographic video hosting service and social networking site based in Toronto, Ontario. It was established in 2006 and is notable for being the first adult community site to allow users to upload and share adult videos. Xtube was not a producer of pornography, instead it provided a platform for content uploaded by users. User-submitted content included pornographic videos, webcam models, pornographic photographs, and erotic literature, and incorporated social networking features.

Brazzers is a Canadian pornographic video production company with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and legal domicile in Nicosia, Cyprus. With an online network consisting of thirty-one hardcore pornography websites, the company's slogan is "World's Best HD Porn Site!". The site contains 10,036 videos, which were published by 33 different sites. Their network of sites features 2,340 pornstar models.

Reality Kings is a brand launched by RTA Netmedia, an internet-based hardcore pornography production company operating out of Miami Beach, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aylo</span> Internet pornography company

Aylo is an adult entertainment conglomerate owned by Canadian private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners. It is primarily involved in internet pornography, operating a number of video sharing websites, and pornographic film studios such as Brazzers, Digital Playground, Men.com, Reality Kings, Sean Cody, and WhyNotBi.com, among others. Aylo's headquarters are located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but the company's corporate structure is divided among entities domiciled in a number of other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pornhub</span> Pornographic video-sharing website owned by Aylo

Pornhub is a Canadian-owned internet pornography video-sharing website, one of several such sites owned by adult entertainment conglomerate Aylo. As of December 2023, Pornhub is the 14th most visited website in the world and the 2nd most visited adult website, after XVideos.

Fake Taxi is a pornography website which produces videos within the reality pornography genre. Founded and currently owned by Jonathan Todd, who also founded YouPorn, its online presence and assets are managed by MindGeek along with related websites.

Feras Antoon is a Syrian-Canadian pornographer, and the co-owner and CEO of MindGeek, the world's largest pornography company, which runs sites including YouPorn and Pornhub. He created his first porn website in the early 2000s before co-founding Brazzers, which specialized in the MILF segment of porn distribution. He and David Tassillo later bought Manwin (MindGeek) from Fabian Thylmann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Sins</span> American pornographic actor, and YouTube personality (born 1978)

Steven Wolfe, better known as Johnny Sins, is an American pornographic actor, director, and YouTuber. He is consistently among the most popular male talent pornography searches and is known for his shaved head, muscular physique, and blue eyes. He has received many accolades for his work, including three AVN Awards for Male Performer of the Year nominations as well as multiple nominations. He has also been the subject of many memes, most of which center on the large variety of occupations his pornographic characters have worked.

OnlyFans is an internet content subscription service based in London, United Kingdom. The service is used primarily by sex workers who produce pornography, but it also hosts the work of other content creators, such as physical fitness experts and musicians.

With the passing of the Digital Economy Act 2017, the United Kingdom became the first country to pass a law containing a legal mandate on the provision of an Internet age verification system. Under the act, websites that published pornography on a commercial basis would have been required to implement a "robust" age verification system to prevent minors from accessing their sites. The regulator would have been empowered to fine those who fail to comply up to £250,000, to order the blocking of non-compliant websites, and to require those providing financial or advertising services to non-compliant websites to cease doing so.

XNXX is a website for sharing and viewing pornographic videos. As of December 2023, it was classified as the 15th most visited website in the world by Similarweb. It launched in 2000 and is currently hosted in Paris, with servers and offices in Montreal, Tokyo and Newark.

GirlsDoPorn was an American pornographic website active from 2009 until 2020. In October and November 2019, six people involved were charged on counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. In December 2019, two more individuals were charged with obstruction of sex trafficking enforcement. The website was removed in January 2020 after 22 victims won the civil case against the company. According to the United States Department of Justice, the website and its sister website GirlsDoToys generated over $17 million in revenue. Videos were featured on GirlsDoPorn.com as well as pornography aggregate websites such as Pornhub, where the channel reached the top 20 most viewed, with approximately 680 million views.

Exodus Cry is an American Christian non-profit advocacy organization seeking the abolition of the legal commercial sex industry, including pornography, strip clubs, and sex work, as well as illegal sex trafficking. It has been described by the New York Daily News, TheWrap, and others as anti-LGBT, with ties to the anti-abortion movement.

<i>Money Shot: The Pornhub Story</i> 2023 Netflix documentary

Money Shot: The Pornhub Story is a 2023 Netflix documentary about Pornhub and its parent company Aylo. It presents interview footage from sex workers, ex-Pornhub employees, journalists, and anti-sex-trafficking figures. The documentary focuses on a 2020 scandal over Pornhub hosting non-consensual pornography, including of children, and how the aftermath affected pornographic performers.

Ethical Capital Partners is a Canadian private equity firm best known for its acquisition of Aylo, the owner of Pornhub.

References

  1. ↑ Joe Castaldo: Lifting the veil of secrecy on MindGeek’s online pornography empire. In: The Globe and Mail , 4. Februar 2021.
  2. ↑ Akhtar, Allana. "Pornhub is owned by a mysterious businessman through a 'complex network of subsidiaries' that have kept his identity a secret until now, according to a new report". Business Insider. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "Pornhub is owned by a mysterious businessman through a 'complex network of subsidiaries' that have kept his identity a secret until now, according to a new report". news.yahoo.com. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "MindGeek: the secretive owner of Pornhub and RedTube". Financial Times. 17 December 2020. Archived from the original on 17 December 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  5. ↑ Manskar, Noah (17 December 2020). "This shadowy businessman is reportedly behind Pornhub parent MindGeek". New York Post. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  6. ↑ "Lifting the veil of secrecy on MindGeek's online pornography empire" . Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  7. ↑ Ong, Danielle (17 December 2020). "Who Is The Real Bernard Bergemar? Pornhub's Owner Has No Traces Online". International Business Times. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 "DOSSIER · Auf der Spur des Pornhub-Phantoms". www.dossier.at (in German). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "Evaluation of corporations and financing strategies in connection with M & A, LBO and MBO".
  10. ↑ "Pornhub-Drahtzieher soll angeblich Österreicher sein". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  11. ↑ Mostrous, Alexi; Greenwood, Xavier; Clarke, Patricia. "Hunt for the porn king". Tortoise. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  12. ↑ "Rechercheplattform "Dossier" kämpft ums Überleben". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Mysterious owner of Pornhub found living in London" . Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  14. ↑ Mostrous, Alexi; Greenwood, Xavier; Clarke, Patricia (21 May 2021). "Hunt for the porn king: the secretive owner of Pornhub revealed". Tortoise. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  15. ↑ Garger, Kenneth (24 May 2021). "Pornhub tycoon's wife wants him to cut ties with the company". New York Post. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  16. ↑ Johnstone, Shanti Das | Alastair. "Think of the children, pleads wife of Pornhub tycoon Bernd Bergmair". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  17. ↑ "Pornhub-Drahtzieher Bernd Bergmair: Frau von Porno-König bricht ihr Schweigen". bild.de (in German). 29 May 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.