Depending on your perspective, Brandon Wey is either digital dating's Prince of Darkness, or the most honest -- and innovative -- guy in online matchmaking.
The Singaporean-born, MIT-educated entrepreneur has spent the last half decade building lucrative businesses at the seething intersection of cupid and cupidity. His company Infostream operates such sites as SeekingArrangement.com, a marketplace where affluent older gentlemen (Sugar Daddies) can connect with fresh-faced proteges (Sugar Babies) for "mutually beneficial relationships" -- not to mention its platinum-plated spinoff, the bluntly named SeekingMillionaire.com, which offers "Indecent Proposal"-class interactions for the legitimately wealthy looking to turn cold cash into, er, hot assets.
Both businesses were instant successes -- SeekingArrangement.com now has more than 800,000 members, 90 percent of them sugar-seeking young honeys -- but they also were fundamentally focused on a niche audience: The large but fixed number of rich but unattractive people -- I'm looking at you, Donald -- willing to spring big bucks for head-turning arm candy.
Last month, Wey took a step that promises to democratize pay-for-play dating, launching WhatsYourPrice.com, a site that lets "generous" members bid cold hard cash -- $20, $100, even $1,000 a pop -- for dates with "attractive" ones. It's a concept he calls "eBay for dating."
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