Pushkin.

This is an I-Heart podcast.

Okay, we're going to start with a warning.

This series is full of adult themes and has some graphic sex talk.

Now you know, let's get into it.

How did it feel to you to be taken over by a company that no one knew anything about?

Well, the deeper I got into it, the more concerned I became about just the general level of secrecy around the company.

The money has to move, sometimes from a personal account, sometimes from a business account.

That sounded a bit sketchy to me.

If you play that fast and loose in that environment, I have to assume that you're playing that fast and loose in every environment.

That environment she's talking about, it's pornography.

Kelly Holland would know.

She's been a fixture of the porn industry since the 90s.

She even ran one of its most famous brands, Penthouse.

That is, until she lost it to a mystery investor.

And for the industry at large, does it matter that you have these conglomerates that are

buying loads of the industry and we don't really know who owns these companies?

I don't think it's healthy. I think it's very problematic. It's healthy for somebody's bottom line and it's healthy for shareholders, but I don't think it's healthy for clients, consumers, and the general climate. You know, you can make a choice in business to be friendly competitors, which is the healthiest way to go and the most profitable

way to go, or you can be enemies.

I'm Patricia Nilsson, and I'm a reporter for the Financial Times. I write about business.

Some days it's a fashion chain. On others, it's tobacco or a cannabis startup.

But recently, my job has mainly involved porn.

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