Ashley Madison — that infamous dating website for cheaters — looked to have been dealt a death blow by a July 2015 computer hack that revealed the names, addresses and sexual secrets of many of its clientele.
But the company’s brass says they’re back and armed with subscription numbers (around 400,000 new worldwide users monthly) you’d almost have to see to believe.
“We’re back, we’re excited and our opportunities are significant,” says Paul Keable, VP of communications for the site’s new corporate parent, Ruby Life.
Despite the shakeup, which took an unknown toll on Ashley Madison’s profile and had its parent company, Avid Life Media, flirting with disaster, the company now claims to have signed some 52.7 million users since its inception in 2002. That translates to a 50 percent growth rate from the 36 million it claimed two years ago at the time of the security breach.
Keable says the fall out came with a huge silver lining.
“In the summer of 2015 we experienced unprecedented media coverage of our business,” he says, adding that new subscriptions continued piling up undeterred by the cyberattack.
Guess it’s true what they say about the sex business. No matter what, no matter who, no matter how, it’s just one of those industries that will always find a way to thrive.