Brandon Wade and his wife, Tanya. Brandon Wade Brandon Wade has built a controversial online dating empire based around the concept that it's perfectly OK for people — men, mostly — to pay women for dates and relationships. Wade even believes in bribing women to go out with you.

He's best known as the founder of SeekingArrangement.com, the website for "generous" men who are OK with paying for dates, and the women who are happy to accept the money.

He's also a master of PR and word-of-mouth marketing. Just look at his media clips: From The New York Times to Playboy, editors can't resist his unapologetic mix of sex and money.

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Last September Wade started yet another dating site in his empire, which now numbers five major sites. Carrot Dating is a mobile app that literally requires men to offer bribes to women for dates, with gifts ranging from chocolate to jewelry. Wade believes it's a humorous way to kick off a relationship.

When Business Insider talked to Wade, he told us how he got into paid dating in the first place, and how he met his wife, after years of being too shy to even talk to women. He also gave us some personal pictures from his early life to illustrate his story.