Austrian businessman Bernd Bergmair built his fortune in the shadows of Pornhub’s parent MindGeek while victims and activists accused the group of profiting from sex trafficking and child sexual abuse material. Now, as Reuters links him to a bid for Lukoil’s sanctioned assets, new questions arise over how porn profits may be recycled into Russian oil.
MindGeek S.A.R.L., a company registered in Luxembourg, is one of the world's most important website operators. The company is in porn business, with websites attracting 115+ million daily users. Its PornHub attracts 100+ million users daily. The company and its officers have been accused of facilitating rape, child abuse, and sex trafficking. Multiple lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. Most recently, MindGeed was sold in a strange transaction that financial analyst Evan Armstrong called a scam.