Is now co-CEO of Ethos Capital — Fadi Chehadé

Former ICANN CEO is now a co-CEO of the private equity firm that tried to buy .org.

Former ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé is right now listed as the co-CEO of Ethos Capital on the firm’s website.

Ethos Capital tried to buy Public Interest Registry, the non-profit that runs .org domains, but ICANN denied the transaction.

Chehadé’s name was nowhere on Ethos’ website when it disclosed the .org transaction. His involvement quickly became public since of Whois data for one of Ethos Capital’s domain names. The private equity firm admitted that Chehadé was an advisor on the deal.

For months, the Ethos Capital website listed only two employees: CEO Erik Brooks and Chief Purpose Officer Nora Abusitta-Ouri. Abusitta-Ouri worked with Chehadé at ICANN.

The website change listing Chehadé as co-CEO appears to have happened very recently. The last Wayback Machine capture from June 15 did not show him. Elliot Silver spotted the difference today.

Many industry observers may wonder if Chehadé was pegged to be a co-CEO all along, only omitted from the website to avoid more controversy.

Ethos’ website now lists eight employees, three of whom are former ICANN employees. Allen Grogan is Executive Partner and is the former Chief Contract Compliance Officer at ICANN. Grogan’s LinkedIn page states he started advising Ethos last September; his involvement was disclosed following ICANN requested information on former ICANN employees involved with the firm.

Chehadé’s LinkedIn page still lists him as a partner at Abry, the private equity firm that purchased Donuts. Brooks was formerly with Abry.