An Affair Of The Wallet
Online site gets rich assisting philanderers

Darren Morgenstern won't apologize for staking his livelihood on cheatin' hearts.

You may have seen the TV ads for his Toronto-based company, the Ashley Madison Agency. As an online service catering to people who want to cheat on their partners, Ashley Madison is not your average internet dating game.

"No question Ashley Madison is the topic of many water cooler conversations," founder Morgenstern said.

With its "When Monogamy Becomes Monotony" tag-line, the veritable infidelity depot specializes in hooking up attached and married women with single or attached men for romance or otherwise, according to the site (ashleymadison.com.)

"I think It's Beyond Our Expectations"

Ashley Madison Founder Darren Morgenstern

Morgenstern acknowledges the pay service is controversial, but says, "We make no apologies for making a profit or making money, and I think in a lot of respects peoples' first reaction may be that of anger, but I think ... We're just very misunderstood."

Morgenstern maintains the site doesn't encourage cheating, but rather it facilitates people who have already decided to have an affair. And apparently many people have.

Since the site's launch in January 2002, close to 90,000 people, mostly Canadians, have signed on to use its services, Morgenstern said, The company's staff of three people has grown to 20 at its Yonge and Eglinton offices. Final edits of a 220-page book, The Ashley Madison Diaries, slated to be released in the new year are being wrapped up, and this year's profits are triple that of 2002. "I think it's beyond our expectations," Morgenstern said, adding the initial market research showed a huge infidelity niche just itching to be filled. "People that are going to stray are really going to stray anyway, and they've strayed before and they'll stray after us," said Morgenstern, who himself is married, has cheated (not on his wife) and been cheated on. "We know in our heart of hearts that we can't possibly convince somebody to have an affair. We're offering them an anonymous, discreet, and safe way to explore those feelings."

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