Amidst the controversy regarding illegal content being hosted on its sites, MindGeek โ one of the worldโs adult entertainment companies and parent company of Pornhub (no introductions necessary) โ has officially been sold to Canadian private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners (ECP).
While the financial terms of this acquisition isnโt currently public knowledge, according to the most recently published revenue figures from 2018, the Luxembourg-registered pornography giant generated US$460 million (AU$690 million) with a profit margin nearing 50%.
In other words, ECP clearly liked what they saw. Despite edging towards the โbrink of collapseโ back in 2020 after major payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard cut ties following investigations that highlighted the presence of said illegal content (non-consensual, underage, sex trafficking adjacent).
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Solomon Friedman, a lawyer and founding partner of ECP, told The Financial Times he believes the ongoing lawsuits and criticisms fired in MindGeekโs direction have stemmed from a fundamental misunderstanding of how the company is now safeguarding its content.
โI want to engage regularly with stakeholders, including the media.โ
Solomon Friedman
โWe are confident that the MindGeek team and all MindGeek platforms operate with trust and safety at the forefront of everything they do, โ Sarah Bain, yet another ECP founding partner, assured the public via statement.
โWe will be engaging with stakeholders, including content creators, governments and industry to address the misalignment between how MindGeek operates and what the public perceives about this industry and these platforms. We will work with the team to ensure their commitment to trust and safety is communicated clearly with all stakeholders and the public.โ
An Ethical Capital Partners spokesperson added: โWith core values of consent, freedom of sexual expression, authenticity, originality, and diversity at the heart of Pornhubโs mission, the platform is a safe space for verified content creators and the entire adult entertainment community.โ
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โWith the support of ECP, we will further its research and adoption of the latest and best available online safety protocols to ensure that it remains a world-class leader in trust and safety and its platforms are inclusive, sex positive spaces for adults,โ said MindGeek themselves.
Even after purging all content uploaded by unverified accounts, Pornhub โ which was established back in 2007 โ is practically synonymous with adult entertainment; visited by over 130 million daily visitors and over 76 million active registered members monthly.
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And keep in mind, those staggering numbers are solely from Pornhub alone. Across its entire X-rated portfolio, MindGeek also owns the following familiar assets:
- Brazzers
- RedTube
- YouPorn
- Xtube
- PornMD
- Reality Kings
- Digital Playground
- Sean Cody
- Twistys
- WhyNotBi.com
- Mofos Network
- Babes Network
- MILF Hunter
- Milf Next Door
- Euro Sex Parties
- Crazy College GFs
- Wicked.com
- Adult.com
- See My Wife
โฆ and plenty more.
