Fabian Thylmann (born 5 June 1978) is a German businessman who was founder and managing partner of the Internet pornography conglomerate Manwin (now MindGeek).^[1] In October 2013, he sold his stake in the company, which was at the time the largest pornography operator in the world.^[2] Since then he acts as an angel investor for young Startups in Brussels, Belgium where he also operates a co-working and incubation space, SN-Cube.^[3]

Thylmann was born in Aachen. He is married with two children.^[4] He started computer programming when he was 17.^[5] His breakthrough came in the late 1990s when he developed software called NATS (Next-generation Affiliate Tracking Software),^[6] which enabled website operators to track users' clicks on advertisements and links so that they could be paid commission.^[7] Thylmann used the money he made with NATS to buy various Internet pornography companies, and in March 2010, he established Manwin by acquiring the companies Mensef and Interhub.^[5][8] Manwin bought Pornhub, YouPorn, RedTube, Brazzers, Twistys.com, Mofos and other pornography websites.^[9]

In October 2013, Thylmann stepped down and sold Manwin for €73 million, for undisclosed reasons.^[10]

Upon the sale of Manwin, Thylmann wrote in a letter to employees:

In December 2012, Thylmann was extradited from Belgium to Germany on suspicion of tax evasion. He did not contest the extradition order, although he reportedly denied avoiding paying tax.^[4][11]

In April 2015, Thylmann was indicted by the Cologne, Germany federal prosecutor on tax evasion charges.^[12][13] The charges were dropped when he paid 5 million euros^[14] but he still faces a suspended sentence in another case.^[15]