Has Lensman sold out?
 

Playboy Acquires Adult.com, GFY and Other Properties

SACRAMENTO, Calif. ? Adult.com announced Friday that it will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Playboy Entertainment Group, on the heels of a three-year partnership of managing Playboy?s affiliate program PlayboyCash.

The deal with Playboy includes all properties belonging to parent company ICS Inc., including Adult.com GFY.com, RealityCash, Webmaster Access trade shows and CinemaPlay Entertainment Group, a Chatsworth, Calif.-based video distribution outlet.

Joe Lensman will continue on as president of Adult.com and Eric Matis has been promoted to vice president of marketing.

Lensman told XBiz that the deal with Playboy will in no way affect adult webmasters or the company?s staff and that there are no immediate plans to make changes to Adult.com properties. The only changes will be in accounting, he said.

?In addition to creating a stronger online presence, the deal also will enhance Playboy?s presence in adult video distribution, adding to its already established Spice Channel offerings and classic Playboy titles,? Lensman told XBiz.

Lensman and Playboy Vice President of Public Relations Jay Jay Nesheim both agreed that there would be no immediate changes to either brand and that in the long-term, the two companies will roll out a broad array of new products, sites, webmaster resources and distribution avenues using mobile, web and video outlets.

Nesheim added that while the Playboy brand is considered ?sexy,? the company fully intends to keep its image intact and does not have any immediate plans to venture into ?harder? categories of adult entertainment.

?This is not a change to the Playboy model, and we will continue to work as a distinct entity [from Adult.com] much like our Spice business does,? Nesheim told XBiz.

Lensman further endorsed the deal with Playboy by saying that it emphasizes the value Playboy places on the webmaster community.

?Not only will we continue to strive to run the best converting programs, but we will also leverage our assets to create new products and to reward our loyal webmasters,? Lensman said. ?Online is the future of adult entertainment and this allows the company to grow in several categories while at the same time it shows Playboy?s commitment to webmasters and to its customers.?

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

brilliant move on lemsman's part - youre in business to sell out.

well, if selling your company is selling out, then um, yeah

its not like lens announced this on the board earlyier

it's called making money :)

Way to go Lensman. Like Jace said, thats the name of the game.

At the Webmaster Access show "Content" seminar I said the big boys from the main stream porn world were coming and Lensman said they were no threat!!!

Guess he was right. :winkwink:

I just got this in my email.... :eek2

What is the meaning of this?

gfy is owned !

lol :p

It means Lensman will be sitting in the sun in a few years time after he hands over the reins.

News to me he owned Webmaster Access.

seems wierd that someone doesn't know that

I don't follow everything, but his presence in Amsterdam should of been a clue. LOL

Good company to sell out to, another smart move.

hmmmm... maybe not good on the part of lens.. selling out is property ...

Lensman is now an employee? Working for da man?

Ahahahaha!

Oh what fun!

I was thinking that ,a real culture shift. They are publicly traded lots of corporate bullshit. Lens didnt have to deal with being master of his domain.

I wonder if he has a non-compete in his contract after it is finished..

every reply in this thread has an obvious typo.. how come? wow.. conspiracy

Care for a mint?

http://rrredspot.adult.com/junk/pbmint.jpg

My dream is a board with a built in spell checker.I wonder why that hasnt happened yet?

I guess he will just retire or go into something else.

Just got done watching The Longest Yard, great remake.

Gotta love Charley, aways entertaining. If I sold out, I would be out. But on the contrary, I am now under contract for many years to grow our business and all that is involved.

As most of you know, I consider myself a webmaster's webmaster, never too self impressed to not sit down with a new webmaster and toast to the business or to see eye-to-eye with some of the most successful people in the business. That has not changed. What has changed is it's time to take things to a new level. To be proud of what we do, and be partners instead of competitors.

built in spell checker would be nice

partnerships work online true - more control more traffic - more more more - P.S. - please send me some traffic - thanks

Paul Markham = owned

I don't understand how that would be selling out? its not like he owes anyone anything, its his business and i'm sure he will do whatever he thinks is best.. Even if he DID sell everything to playboy and wanted out of the industry completely, good on him. We are all reaching for that level of success to be able to live comfortably and eat well all the time without having to work too hard, and once someone reaches that level we shouldn't hate on them, but congratulate them since we too are aiming to reach that level someday as well :2 cents:

(before the dicksucking reply, its not. I just don't like when people hate on eachothers success)

Does that mean changes with GFY?

Did Lensman sell out? WTF of coarse he did and I wish I could sell out too! We're peddling smut not writing literature here.

I think what you've done is great for the Adult Net, brings together two good companies into a great partnership.

Only people who should be worried are your competitors.

does that mean we can't say things like FUCK PLAYBOY?

Anybody who says they don't have a price, simply hasn't been offered enough.

Everything's for sale, just depends if you got the cash or not. :)

Dude, I wanted to like you. Lensman just took a contract on you though and I got the call. :(

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

All I know is my SIG price just went way way up.

:winkwink:

That playboy has no intention in going to hardcore is why they take over
other companies. Non hardcore is only meant for the playboy brand.....not for
companies they take over.

I will verify that for Lensman.. At the San Diego show I had the chance to meet Joe and was very shocked at his good nature and willingness to talk to some like myself (a SMALL fish in the game) so openly and nicely on a 1st conversation ever.

He is either a REALLY cool and down to earth guy or he was just REALLY happy I did not wreck his brand new car after he gave me the keys to go on a beer run. Either way I was impressed. :)

I knew you'd want to talk Turkey.

You give Don Lensman a full one half stake in men.com, and we'll let this slight pass. :winkwink:

Congrats to Lensman! :)

DH

I have to say congrats to him as well. I am sure that he did what he felt was best for him. However I have seen many deals just like this one, where the person had an IRON CLAD contract for x number of years, and the next thing they know, they dont have a job. Yes they got the upfront cash, and it has been a ton. but that does not replace the extra that they would have made over the years, And we all know that money is not worth what it used to be. And they loose or lost the fun that they had running the joint.

Wait until the frist time that Lens wants to do something, and PLayboy says. Thats not a good idea.

good God your name is REALLY Lensman?

I have a very wise and VERY RICH mentor who taught me a few golden rules of business.

Always look for new avenues for your business (partnerships, new investors, new outlets), and the most important, when things are going very well and you dont want to sell, that is the time to sell (or partially sell an interest).

This is a brillant move for Lensman and crew, it put one of the most recognized brands in the world behind him and i have to say im very jealous and wish them tons success (not that they need it)

Branding is EVERYTHING and Everyone knows the Bunny, EVERYONE!!!!

I am so happy for Lensman, they are great people (and great parties). So off I go its 6 am and I am going to the mountains shooting me some stuff..

Come on guys look at it that way.. THE PARTIES ARE GOING TO BE AWESOME NOW............ (seeing myself surrounded by hot bunnies he he he)

Joe Lensman? That's some quality reporting.

Can't they at least pretend to be real reporters and at least get the name right?

good move

Good move on lens and its already on this board Lens posted it himself, Joe Lensman thats a nice name ;)

Cha-Ching!

"Sold-Out"????? Damn Charly that is a polite thing to say on a board owned by your host. I wouldn't characterize the transaction as a sell-out at all. Adult.com brings a set of assets to the Playboy organization. I also suspect that adult.com is stronger as a result of the merger.

Mergers often end up larger that the sum of their original parts. A win-win for all involved. In the US (Canada too) there is tons of cash poured into companies by venture capitalists with the sole intent of selling at a huge sum. Often these companies are high tech prestigious firms. Not saying that was Lensman's original thought, but this is no "sell-out".

Love you Charly, but get the impression you don't have a grasp on the political system in the states or capitalism for that matter. Behind the camera you work wonders though!

honestly, i though adult.com was going to buy playboy... i thought lensman is doing more than h.h. :))

Business is Business!

So, what is your position right now in the new "company"? What's the title?

Ok.. Never mind. Just saw the answer.

"Joe Lensman will continue on as president of Adult.com and Eric Matis has been promoted to vice president of marketing."

Congrats!

I think we all build our businesses as hard as we can and there is no doubt selling your business is like the reward for a job well done. As for Joe being an employee, I think it helps that he's worked with these people for several years now, so this is not a new deal.

Congrats Lens! I think this move has the potential to make you and your companies stronger.

Matt

Congratulations Joe!! :)