In its report on porn Friday afternoon, Fox News Business reporter Charlie Gasparino [pictured] offered some interesting insights into the evolution of Manwin.
“This is actually a serious story,” said Gasparino.
“Fabian Thylmann’s Manwin Enterprises – a huge porn conglomerate- I guess he’s like the new Larry Flynt, this guy. There’s been lots written on him. New York Magazine. What’s interesting and controversial about him is that not only does he offer the pay-for-porn-stuff, but he also does the stuff known as pirating.
“They create these hubs, kind of like a YouTube of porn,” Gasparino explained.
“He takes stuff – some say he steals stuff – that’s copyrighted say from Hustler and other places and you can watch it for free. He sells advertising with it. That’s extremely controversial in the porn industry. His company Manwin apparently makes a lot of money.
“Here’s what we know. This angle is fascinating. What’s fascinating is that Wall St. is involved with this company. Here’s what we know. We have lots of calls out today. And these aren’t minor players. A company called Colbeck Capital, founded by two former Goldman Sachs executives, they came in with a $167M financing within the last year for Manwin.
“Then the loan got syndicated out where companies like Fortress Investments bought these. So clearly Wall St. is involved in this.
“Fortress Investment is a publicly traded Hedge Fund vehicle. That’s what we have right now, Wall St. involved in Manwin Enterprises which, like I said, is really interesting from the standpoint of not just because they do porn, it’s the pirated aspect of porn.
“On YouTube there’s FTC actions if you take Fox Business or Fox News-stuff that’s exclusive to Fox News and put it on, there’s a good chance that you’d get a call from one of our lawyers to take it down,” Gasparino related.
“Saturday Night Live clips – hard to find on YouTube – some times because it’s copyrighted. It’s a little different in the porn industry mainly because the Justice Dept. or authorities who generally look at pirated stuff do not crack down on this. There’s no enforcement of the copyright laws when it comes to porn because it is porn.”
Gasparino went on to say that if there ever came time for a crack down, Manwin “would have a problem.”
“And companies that finance Manwin like Colbeck and Fortress to some extent.”
Gasparino said that he talked to people at Fortress who confirmed that they bought a piece of the syndicated Manwin loan and sold it.
“It’s out there- it’s been bouncing around on Wall St. This $167M loan. Not huge money but big when it comes to Colbeck’s bottom line. And it’s interesting that Wall St. stepped up to the plate for something as controversial as Manwin.”
Gasparino said it’s the “stealing” aspect that makes Manwin controversial.
Gasparino reported that he’s got calls into Jason Beckman one of the founding partners of Colbeck for comment.