Mansef was funded by Concordia University graduates Stephane Manos and Ouissam Youssef (Mansef a portmanteau of the two's surnames) in 2004 as the holding company for various " thumbnail gallery post" websites and an affiliate network. In the late 1990s, German-born Fabian Thylmann created NATS (Next-Generation Affiliate Tracking Software), which was used for marketing pornography across different websites.
It is owned by Feras Antoon, Bernd Bergmair (Bernard Bergemar), David Marmorstein and newly Leonardo DaSilva and operates many popular pornographic websites, including video sharing services Pornhub, RedTube, and YouPorn, as well as adult film production companies Brazzers, Digital Playground, Men.com, Reality Kings, Sean Cody, and, among others. MindGeek (formerly Manwin) is a privately held Canadian company that primarily focuses on pornography.