Bernd Bergmair (also spelled Bernard Bergemar, born 1968 in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

) is an Austrian businessman. He is one of the majority owners of privately held

MindGeek MindGeek (formerly Manwin) is a Luxembourg-based, privately held company with Canada as its center of operations that primarily focuses on pornography. It is owned by Feras Antoon, Bernd Bergmair (Bernard Bergemar), David Marmorstein, and — mo ...

, the

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

-based conglomerate behind popular porn sites such as

Pornhub Pornhub is a Canadian-owned internet pornography website. It is one of several pornographic video-streaming websites owned by MindGeek. , Pornhub is the 10th-most-trafficked website in the world and the second-most-trafficked adult website aft ...

. Although he is not mentioned in the company's corporate filings, a report by the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' revealed that Bergemar is MindGeek's largest beneficiary thanks to a "complex network of

subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a sa ...

" in which he owns a large percentage of the shares.

Early life

He grew up as the son of farmers in

Ansfelden Ansfelden is a town in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. The rivers Traun and Krems run through the municipality. The town is perhaps best known for being the birthplace of the composer and organist Anton Bruckner. Ansfelden has two museum ...

, attended grammar school in

and transferred to HLBLA St. Florian. He then studied at the

University of Linz The Johannes Kepler University Linz (German: ''Johannes Kepler Universität Linz'', short: ''JKU'') is a public institution of higher education in Austria. It is located in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. It offers bachelor's, master's, d ...

, graduating in 1992 with a thesis on a topic related to

corporate acquisition Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

: Evaluation of corporations and financing strategies in connection with M & A, LBO and MBO. He worked for

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

in New York, before working in Frankfurt am Main, Hong Kong and London. In 2006 he became the owner of the porn website

RedTube RedTube is a pornographic video sharing site, which in September 2009 held an Alexa ranking within the world's top 100 sites. It is one of several pornographic websites owned by Mindgeek. In June 2010 it had fallen out of the top 100, but it ...

and in 2013 he sold the site to Manwin, now known as Mindgeek.

MindGeek

In December 2020, the ''Financial Times'' published a report on MindGeek's ownership, revealing that Bergmair or "Bernard Bergemar" as he had used in court documents was the company's majority owner. The ''Financial Times'' report prompted a parliamentary inquiry into Pornhub's practices in Canada, in which MindGeek directors and minority owners David Tassillo and

Feras Antoon Feras Antoon ( ar, فراس انطون, Fūras Antūn; born 29 June 1975) is a Syrian-Canadian pornographer, and the co-owner and CEO of MindGeek, the world's largest pornography company, which runs sites including YouPorn and Pornhub. He creat ...

named a "Bernard Bergemar" as the principal owner. He owned more than half of the shares, but was a passive investor and not involved in the day-to-day business. British research platform

Tortoise Media ''Tortoise Media'' is a British news website co-founded by former BBC News director and ''The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', a ...

and Austrian magazine ''Dossier'' cooperated on an investigation. Company records showed Bergemar lived in China, but was found to be actually living in a mansion in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

after the investigation by Tortoise Media. Soon after, his Brazilian wife Priscila Bergmair told ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' that she wanted her husband to cut ties with the company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergmair, Bernd 1968 births Living people People from Linz-Land District British pornographers Johannes Kepler University Linz alumni Goldman Sachs people