Peter Acworth

Peter Acworth is a UK-born web entrepreneur based in San Francisco. He is the founder and CEO of Kink.com, an internet pornography producer that focuses on BDSM and fetish themes.

Acworth entered the pornography industry when he was a PhD student in finance at Columbia University. After reading a story in a British tabloid about a fireman who made £250,000 in a short period by starting an internet pornography site, Acworth decided to start a porn site of his own. Since Acworth had what he described as a lifelong interest in bondage, he oriented the site toward BDSM porn. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/magazine/29kink.t.html "A Disciplined Business"] by Jon Mooallem, "The New York Times Magazine," April 29, 2007.]

The site, Hogtied, featured content licensed from other bondage pornography producers. Acworth soon left his graduate studies to work on the site full time. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/magazine/29kink.t.html "A Disciplined Business"] by Jon Mooallem, "The New York Times Magazine," April 29, 2007.]

In 1998, Acworth moved from New York City to San Francisco. Finding that sales were leveling off because other sites were using the same content, Acworth began producing his own content, initially featuring himself with various models who he found through Craigslist or through his photographer friends. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/magazine/29kink.t.html "A Disciplined Business"] by Jon Mooallem, "The New York Times Magazine," April 29, 2007.]

In 2000, Acworth founded his second site, Fucking Machines, [http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-07-16/columns/the-man-behind-the-fucking-machine/" The Man Behind the Fucking Machines"] , "Village Voice," July 16, 2008] . under Cybernet Entertainment, Inc., the corporate entity that ran Hogtied.com. A number of additional sites followed, and in 2006 Acworth changed the corporate name of Cybernet to Kink.com. [http://news.behindkink.com/blog/default/2008/02/01/Kink-com-Celebrates-its-10-year-Anniversary "Kink.com Celebrates its 10-year Anniversary"] , "Behind Kink," February 1, 2008.]

In late 2006, Acworth announced the purchase of The San Francisco Armory. He announced that Kink.com would move into the building to use as corporate offices and as a studio for producing its movies. As a result, he sold Kink.com's then-current office at 942 Mission Street for $6.5 million, more than double what he'd paid for it four years previous. The San Francisco Business Times, part of Bizjournals, reported that since moving to San Francisco in 1998, Acworth had also made large profits on a home in the Marina and Hogtied.com's original studios on 8th Street. Acworth told the paper that he would not be buying any additional property in San Francisco. "All of our real estate profits are in the Armory," he said. [http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/02/25/tidbits1.html "Working Out the Real Estate Kinks"] , "Bizjournals," February 22, 2008.]

Acworth continues to perform occasionally in Kink.com projects in addition to serving as CEO. [http://news.behindkink.com/blog/default/2008/08/25/Peter-Acworth-Directs-Test-Shoot-for-Fantasy-Takedown-Site "Peter Acworth Directs Test Shoot for Fantasy Takedown Site"] , "Behind Kink," August 25, 2008.]

References

External links

* [http://www.kink.com/ Kink.com]
* [http://www.sfarmory.com/ SFArmory.com]
* [http://news.behindkink.com/blog/ Behind Kink] – Kink.com blog.
* [http://blog.adultdvdtalk.com/2008/01/peter_acworth_the_kink_kronikl.html The Kink Kronikles] - Interview with Peter Acworth