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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Ex-boss of ICANN shifts from 'advisor' to co-CEO of private equity biz that tried to buy .org for $1bn+:

In the past week, the website of Ethos Capital, the private equity firm that offered $1.13bn to take control of the popular .org registry, was updated to list ex-ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade as its joint head.

The change is significant because it was Chehade's involvement in the attempted .org purchase that first alerted internet users that the deal deserved closer scrutiny.

The sale was ultimately vetoed several months later by ICANN, but only after the Attorney General of California got involved and sent a last-minute letter to LA-based ICANN telling it not to approve the deal in part due to the "lack of transparency" on Ethos Capital.

Part of that lack of transparency was who would actually own the .org registry after the sale: behind Ethos was a complex structure of no less than four shell companies that were all registered on the same day in Delaware with the prefix "Purpose Domains." Ethos Capital refused to divulge who all the directors of those companies actually were despite repeat requests, including from ICANN, which had the power to refuse the sale.

Chehade's close link to the proposed sale was only noticed because he had registered Ethos Capital's .org domain name, EthosCapital.org, under his own name on May 7, 2019. The company Ethos Capital LLC was registered in Delaware one week later, on May 14, 2019.

Acting merely as "advisor" until now allowed plausible deniability when pointed questions were made to The Internet Society and PIR (Public Interest Registry) concerning Ethos Capital.

Hmmmm 🤔

Original Submission