Brandon Wade (born Lead Wey; 1970) is an American businessman who is the founder and chief executive officer of InfoStream Group, an online dating company. He is a graduate of the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT) and

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (branded as MIT Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree progra ...

and a former software engineer. He is best known for founding the

sugar dating Sugar dating or sugaring is an interpersonal relationship where one person receives money or gifts in exchange for intimacy or companionship. The provider (called a sugar daddy or sugar mommy) is typically older and wealthier, while the recipi ...

web site SeekingArrangement.com. Wade's web sites have been criticised for being comparable to escort services.

Early life

Born in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

to ethnic Chinese parents, Wade was raised in what he describes as a " Tiger Mom–type of upbringing" consisting of studying and not much else. While growing up in Singapore, Wade attended Saint Andrew's Secondary School and

Hwa Chong Junior College The Hwa Chong Junior College () was a Junior college (Singapore), junior college in Singapore offering Education in Singapore#Pre-university, pre-university education. The school merged with The Chinese High School on 1 January 2005 to form the ...

. In 1993, Wade graduated from

(MIT), where he received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

on an Overseas Merit Scholarship awarded by Singapore's Public Service Commission. Upon graduating in 1993, Wade opted to stay in the United States, breaking his contractual obligation to return to Singapore and forcing his parents to pay about $300,000 in damages. Wade then enrolled in the

, where he graduated with a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

in 1995.

Career

After completing his MBA, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to work for technology consultants Booz Allen. He later joined

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

as a technology infrastructure manager. Wade is the author of two books titled ''Seeking Arrangement: The Definitive Guide to Sugar Daddy and Mutually Beneficial Relationships'' and ''Connecting with the IN Crowd: How to Network, Hang Out, and Play with Millionaires Online''. In a 2014 essay for

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

titled '' "Dating website founder says love doesn't exist''", Wade wrote, "Love is a concept invented by poor people."

Dating websites

In 2006, Wade founded the

website Seeking.com. In 2007, Wade launched a companion dating site WhatsYourPrice.com, a dating website where members bid for dates in an online auction environment. In May 2012 he launched MissTravel.com, which pairs 'generous' travelers with 'attractive' travelers who would love the opportunity to travel the world for free. Marlow Stern of ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'' criticised MissTravel.com for its lack of safety precautions, including the high potential for sex trafficking. And in May 2015, Wade launched OpenMinded.com, a dating website that caters to those who are monogamish with the goal of providing a safe and stigma-free environment that brings the ease and flexibility of online dating to the currently underserved world of open relationships. He further states the website caters to those looking to engage in 'ethical cheating'. Wade's websites, which are based around rich men paying for dates with attractive women, have received controversy and criticism in the media, with ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'', ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'',

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

and

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

all reporting on the moral ambiguity of the websites SeekingArrangement and WhatsYourPrice.com. The websites have been accused of treating their female members like prostitutes, with WhatsYourPrice.com being described as "indistinguishable from prostitution". It has been reported that a large proportion of women using the site are students, and about 40 percent of the male users are married men. Wade has strongly denied there is an illicit side to the site.Koppel, Nathan
"A Q&A With Brandon Wade, Mr. Sugar Daddy"
Wall Street Journal. August 17, 2011. Retrieved December 21, 2012.Padawer, Ruth

NYTimes.com. April 10, 2009. Retrieved December 21, 2012.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wade, Brandon 1970 births Living people People from Singapore Singaporean emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from Las Vegas MIT School of Engineering alumni American company founders MIT Sloan School of Management alumni