A technology company that has been essential in keeping far-right and extremist websites online was acquired last year by a firm that operates an empire of shell companies across the United States, according to people familiar with the deal.
Epik.com has been for years the go-to domain registrar for websites that other companies refuse to do business with.
Sites dedicated to white nationalism, QAnon conspiracy theories, and harassing transgender people were all welcomed by Epik.
Now, it appears that Epik's new owner may abandon the extremist fringe and shift its customer base toward companies seeking to operate in the shadows.
Rob Monster, a born-again Christian who founded Epik in 2009, had been key in keeping many of the most extreme websites online.
He often went to great lengths to personally defend the sites and extolled the virtues of free speech.
Epik was sold to new ownership last year after the company unraveled amid allegations of gross financial mismanagement.
An accounting firm hired by Epik to conduct a forensic investigation alleged that Monster had misappropriated more than $3.5 million, according to an internal preliminary report obtained by WIRED. More than $1.5 million was attributed to Monster personally withdrawing funds from the company.
Nearly $2 million of Epik funds was used in Kingdom Ventures, Monsters' venture capital firm, according to the report.
Monster didn't respond to multiple requests for comment.
The buyer of Epik's domain registrar business was a brand-new company that had been incorporated in Wyoming weeks before the sale was completed last summer: Epik LLC. The owner of Epik LLC, according to two people familiar with the deal, is Registered Agents Inc. The company confirmed its ownership in a press release late Friday night.
Registered Agents Inc. and its subsidiary companies claim to have offices in every state and Washington, DC. Its services allow companies to operate anonymously in a jurisdiction of its choosing.
Registered Agents Inc. says it provides services to over 1 million companies.
The founder and owner of Registered Agents, according to two people familiar with the company, is a man named Dan Keen.
In an email, a lawyer for Registered Agents Inc. says Keen is not the owner nor an employee of Registered Agents Inc. or Epik, and that he acted as a consultant in the acquisition.
Keen is intensely private, according to multiple people who have worked with him who requested anonymity to discuss details of the deal.
Keen is a serial entrepreneur who previously ran a lawn care and tree-trimming business, according to public records.
Attempts to reach Keen for comment led to a reply from Bryce Myrvang, a lawyer for Registered Agents Inc. Using a registered agent to incorporate a business allows the owner to shield who actually owns it.
A registered agent will act as an official point of contact for a company, receiving legal notices and mail, and filing incorporation documents with the state.
In Wyoming alone, Registered Agents Inc. represents around 50,000 companies, according to the Wyoming secretary of state.
This Cyber News was published on www.wired.com. Publication date: Thu, 08 Feb 2024 19:43:05 +0000