Excerpt:
Phone sex firm's odd bedfellows
What do Microsoft, eBay and the Carlyle Group -- employer of a number of former high-ranking government officials -- have in common?
Phone sex.
A Carlyle Group managing director, Robert Grady, sits on Ingenio's board of directors and is knowledgeable about most aspects of the company's operations, including the phone-sex and dial-a-psychic services.
"He's a great board member," said Marc Barach, Ingenio's chief marketing officer. "He provides us guidance on a frequent basis."
Grady couldn't be reached for comment.
http://people.forbes.com/profile/robert-e-grady/8675
Excerpt:
Mr. Grady previously served in the White House as Deputy Assistant to President George H.W. Bush and as Executive Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Grady
Excerpt:
Robert E. Grady is an American venture capitalist and investment banker, and a senior-level public official. Currently, he is managing director at Cheyenne Capital,[3] Chairman of the State of New Jersey Council of Economic Advisors for Governor Christopher J. Christie,[4] and Chairman of New Jersey's State Investment Council,[5] which oversees the state's $72 billion pension fund.
http://www.carlyle.com/media%20room/news%20archive/2007/item9939.html
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Comment
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2007/11/ingenio-to-keep/
Excerpt:
Ingenio to Keep its NSFW Holdings in AT&T Deal?
It’s not uncommon for businesses to exchange little bonuses during an acquisition. But every once in a while that practice can land some unwanted extras too. When AT&T announced its purchase of the pay-per-call startup Ingenio today, it was clearly out to expand its performance-based ad holdings. However, the left overs that shook free from this transaction were jaw droppers — phone psychic and phone sex networks.
AT&T’s motivation for the acquisition was simple enough. The telecom giant needed a way to overhaul the online advertising for its directory sites like Yellowpages. Naturally, Ingenio made for a great catalyst. The San Francisco-based startup had established a proprietary method for providing small-to-medium businesses with verified phone leads. Rather than listing the marketers and linking to their individual sites, Ingenio’s ad network would outfit a business’ online ads with custom 1-800 numbers. Marketers were then charged based off the number of times they received calls from the custom numbers. For AT&T going into this acquisition, that meant its staple advertisers who rely on phone leads (plumbers, mechanics, etc.) would now have more of an incentive to advertise within its online directories.
Of course, electricians and lawyers aren’t the only service-based marketers that could benefit from this technology. That’s why Ingenio launched Keen and Niteflirt (NSFW) a while back. From the beginning, each site had served as a directory for connecting customers with phone psychics and adult chat operators, respectively. In this case, Ingenio’s pay-per-call technology was also been the tie that binds. Not only did the company offer these independent contractors marketing tools and billing services, but also revenue sharing through its pay-per-call service.
AT&T has predictably shied away from the racier (and probably lucrative) sides of Ingenio’s business.
"We are not taking on the adult portion of the business," said an AT&T spokesperson. "We are acquiring the pay-per-call and earn-per-call portions, but we are not acquiring the adult portion because it is simply not consistent with our brand."
Ingenio’s spokespeople have yet to respond to EPICENTER’s requests for comment, leaving the fates of Keen and Niteflirt unknown for the time being. However, in light of the sale to AT&T, it’s likely that Ingenio will follow suit with further disassociation.
Photo: Niteflirt
Phone sex.
A Carlyle Group managing director, Robert Grady, sits on Ingenio's board of directors and is knowledgeable about most aspects of the company's operations, including the phone-sex and dial-a-psychic services.
"He's a great board member," said Marc Barach, Ingenio's chief marketing officer. "He provides us guidance on a frequent basis."
Grady couldn't be reached for comment.
http://people.forbes.com/profile/robert-e-grady/8675
Excerpt:
Mr. Grady previously served in the White House as Deputy Assistant to President George H.W. Bush and as Executive Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Grady
Excerpt:
Robert E. Grady is an American venture capitalist and investment banker, and a senior-level public official. Currently, he is managing director at Cheyenne Capital,[3] Chairman of the State of New Jersey Council of Economic Advisors for Governor Christopher J. Christie,[4] and Chairman of New Jersey's State Investment Council,[5] which oversees the state's $72 billion pension fund.
http://www.carlyle.com/media%20room/news%20archive/2007/item9939.html
Excerpt:
| November 19, 2007 #2007-142pc (issued by third party) AT&T Agrees To Acquire Ingenio, A Pioneer And Leading Provider Of Pay Per Call Search And Directory Solutions; New Capabilities Will Provide Advertisers With Additional Innovative Directory Advertising Services |
San Antonio, TX - AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) announced today that an AT&T subsidiary has agreed to acquire privately held Ingenio, a leading provider of Pay Per Call® technology. The transaction is expected to close in early January 2008. AT&T plans to integrate Ingenio’s Pay Per Call solutions into its directory service http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=67641 Excerpt: New Libyan government wants its Stanford money backBy OBSERVER News - Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011. Article Hits: 45 No Comments ST JOHN’S, Antigua – With the global financial crisis bearing down on him in late-January, 2009, financier Allen Stanford travelled to Libya in search of a lifeline – money from the Gaddafi regime, whose sovereign wealth funds had been investing with Stanford for some time. It was already too late for Stanford, whose financial empire was shut down three weeks later by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which called it a massive $8 billion Ponzi scheme. But somehow the Libyans managed to withdraw some $55 million of their Stanford investments just before the company collapsed. A court-appointed receiver rounding up Stanford’s assets, Dallas attorney Ralph Janvey, says that money belongs to Stanford investors, since it represents returns on their investments. Janvey won a temporary injunction in June, essentially freezing the money. Now, with a hearing on that injunction scheduled for next month, the new Libyan government says the Libyan people were victims of the Stanford fraud, too, and they want the $55 million back. Libya’s new government, the Transitional National Council, has hired two powerful Washington law firms – Patton Boggs and Shearman & Sterling – to fight the injunction. In court papers filed this week, the TNC denies the proceeds the Libyan sovereign wealth funds received came from the alleged Ponzi scheme, and said one of the funds, the Libyan Foreign Investment Corporation, appears to be a “major victim” of the alleged Stanford fraud. The battle is yet another potential complication for Stanford’s 28,000 retail investors, who so far have recovered just pennies on the dollar. In addition to the battle over the Libyan millions, there are hundreds of millions more in limbo depending on the outcome of Stanford’s criminal trial, currently scheduled for January. Separately, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation has still not decided whether to grant insurance coverage to Stanford’s investors, which would clear the way for payments of up to $500,000 per account. Stanford has denied wrongdoing. (CNBC) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=AT%26T Excerpt: Past Elections Edward E. Whitacre Jr., then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SBC (AT&T), was a Bush Ranger having raised at least $200,000 for Bush in the 2004 presidential election. [18] AT&T gave $2,341,683 to federal candidates in the 2006 election cycle through its three political action committees - 34% to Democrats, 66% to Republicans. [19] [20] [21 http://www.healthcentral.com/about/robert-e-grady/ Excerpt: Mr. Grady served from 1994 to 2004 on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he taught a course on “Investing in Highly Regulated Industries.” Prior to moving to California in 1993, Mr. Grady served in the White House as Deputy Assistant to President George H.W. Bush and as Executive Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/3836251/Stanford-University-sues-Sir-Allen-Stanford.html |
Stanford University sues Sir Allen Stanford
Sir Allen Stanford has become embroiled in yet another legal row after it emerged his company is being sued by one of America’s most prestigious universities over the use of the Stanford name.
7:30AM GMT 19 Dec 2008
Comment Stanford University has confirmed to Telegraph Sport that it has filed a law suit at a federal court in San Francisco claiming, among other things, that the Stanford tournaments infringe its trademark copyright.
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2007/11/ingenio-to-keep/
Excerpt:
Ingenio to Keep its NSFW Holdings in AT&T Deal?
November 19, 2007 |
It’s not uncommon for businesses to exchange little bonuses during an acquisition. But every once in a while that practice can land some unwanted extras too. When AT&T announced its purchase of the pay-per-call startup Ingenio today, it was clearly out to expand its performance-based ad holdings. However, the left overs that shook free from this transaction were jaw droppers — phone psychic and phone sex networks.
AT&T’s motivation for the acquisition was simple enough. The telecom giant needed a way to overhaul the online advertising for its directory sites like Yellowpages. Naturally, Ingenio made for a great catalyst. The San Francisco-based startup had established a proprietary method for providing small-to-medium businesses with verified phone leads. Rather than listing the marketers and linking to their individual sites, Ingenio’s ad network would outfit a business’ online ads with custom 1-800 numbers. Marketers were then charged based off the number of times they received calls from the custom numbers. For AT&T going into this acquisition, that meant its staple advertisers who rely on phone leads (plumbers, mechanics, etc.) would now have more of an incentive to advertise within its online directories.
Of course, electricians and lawyers aren’t the only service-based marketers that could benefit from this technology. That’s why Ingenio launched Keen and Niteflirt (NSFW) a while back. From the beginning, each site had served as a directory for connecting customers with phone psychics and adult chat operators, respectively. In this case, Ingenio’s pay-per-call technology was also been the tie that binds. Not only did the company offer these independent contractors marketing tools and billing services, but also revenue sharing through its pay-per-call service.
AT&T has predictably shied away from the racier (and probably lucrative) sides of Ingenio’s business.
"We are not taking on the adult portion of the business," said an AT&T spokesperson. "We are acquiring the pay-per-call and earn-per-call portions, but we are not acquiring the adult portion because it is simply not consistent with our brand."
Ingenio’s spokespeople have yet to respond to EPICENTER’s requests for comment, leaving the fates of Keen and Niteflirt unknown for the time being. However, in light of the sale to AT&T, it’s likely that Ingenio will follow suit with further disassociation.
Photo: Niteflirt
