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Cheater Site Founder Hates Monogamy, Loves Wife

For Ashley Madison creator Noel Biderman, it's a business, not a lifestyle

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 20, 2011 6:48 PM CST

(Newser) – Noel Biderman has a wife and two kids and a stated belief that monogamy is a "failed experiment." But he has to say that, because he created AshleyMadison, the website that caters to people looking for affairs, notes BusinessWeek in a profile. Some highlights:

  • Members: The site claims 8.5 million members, of whom 1.3 million have paid for services beyond the free profile (generally to help them communicate with other members). It's available in 10 countries with plans for more.
  • Mostly guys: Definitely. When women log on, they're deluged.
  • Thanks, Craigslist: Daily visitors to the site are up 13% since Craigslist closed its "adult services" section.

  • Good money: Biderman draws a salary in the "seven figures" from Avid Life Media, of which he is CEO. The company is private and is kicking around an IPO, though its line of business makes that dicey.
  • What Biderman's wife thinks: "Really, the business itself doesn't match who he is as a person—it's not our lifestyle or value system or any of that. I mean, yeah, I'd love it if he were working on a cure for cancer. But it's a business, and that's how we look at it."
Read the full profile here.

That's not really Ashley Madison. The site's name came from the two most popular girls' names when Noel Biderman created it.
That's not really Ashley Madison. The site's name came from the two most popular girls' names when Noel Biderman created it.   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 8 comments
LK789
Feb 20, 2011 10:13 PM CST
It's a good idea. We need to keep these kind of people away from the rest of society. :D
brawne
Feb 20, 2011 9:05 PM CST
Jealousy is a flaw. Remember in We Were Soldiers Once when Mel talks about Crazy Horse? He was nursed by every woman in the tribe--as were all babies because the tribe mattered not the kid. That's how you got a tribe to begin with--every kid seeing everyone as important. How well has monogamy worked? Very well for the men with low hormone levels who have no desire to fuck anyone-- forget about their wives. It's lowest denominator at work. What Americans think of as monogamy is actually reverse Darwinism. Why do you think we are in this place? High sex hormones and men tend to work very hard to satisfy that. Low, lower, lowest--that be the people who think that sex is a moral issue and not a biological one. Like my ex who after 22 years said--I never cheated on you and I said--that's not a good thing. Tide goes in; tide goes out.
finkster
Feb 20, 2011 7:15 PM CST
It seems for a lot of humans, being in a monogamous relationship, is hard...but what is truly ironic is how hard it would be for those very same people if they were cheated on.
 

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