Nazaroo
New member
I'm just waiting for some spouse who's been cheated on
shooting this jerk in the face.
"
"And because wickedness shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold."
- Matthew 24:12
shooting this jerk in the face.
"
"And because wickedness shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold."
- Matthew 24:12
Ashley Madison: Is infidelity a billion-dollar business? By Kim Gittleson BBC business reporter, New York
Noel Biderman (m) says he was inspired to start the site after being a sports lawyer Noel Biderman sounds like your run-of-the-mill technology chief executive: he peppers his speech with words like "disruption" and of course, his start-up is not just a business, but a vehicle for "societal impact". "I am making it easier for women to catch up to men," he says of AshleyMadison.com, the website he founded in 2001. The catch, of course, is that Ashley Madison is the website for cheating spouses, with the unsubtle tagline, "Life is short. Have an affair." And Mr Biderman, a former sports lawyer who says he was often forced to deal with the aftermath of his clients' affairs, says he is helping women catch up to men not by giving them equal pay or more education, but by allowing them to cheat with just as much frequency as men do. "There's a lot of brick and mortar business from brothels to escort agencies that cater towards men, so I really wanted to focus on the female side of the equation," he says. That's why he named the site Ashley Madison, after the two most popular baby girl names in the United States at the time. Whatever your view on that equality proposition is, his bet that cheating could be profitable seems correct: the company, which lets women use it for free, but charges men fees to create profiles and send messages, notched $150m (£95m) in revenues in 2014, all from subscriptions. But the big question now, as the firm attempts to raise $200m in a public share sale in London - which would value it at nearly $1bn - is whether or not anyone will be willing to publicly invest in infidelity. Second time This isn't the first time Mr Biderman and Avid Life Media - Ashley Madison's parent company, which also runs the websites CougarLife.com, EstablishedMen.com, and TheBigandtheBeautiful.com - have sought a public share sale. In 2011, the company attempted to list in its home city of Toronto, but was ultimately forced to withdraw its offering when the Toronto Stock Exchange and investors baulked at the proposition. Mr Biderman chalks the failure up to squeamishness and timing. The site, which is now in 46 countries and has 30 million global members, was only in the US and Canada then. The site is in 46 countries, and takes in an estimated $150m in revenue, according to Avid Life Media He thinks London is a better bet because the city is more comfortable with "sin or controversial businesses". "Business for the most part should have one goal in society - investor return. They're not there for social endeavours," he says. In other words, European investors might be willing to overlook a few things if the top line figures look good. And there is some data to back up his pure profits-focused pitch. A recent study by three London Business School economists found that investments in tobacco or adult entertainment business often have higher returns, possibly because other investors shun them and artificially lower their prices. Another study found that an investment in a "sin stock" portfolio can lead to annual returns of nearly 19%. |
K: for fornicators (1 Co 6:9-10). 