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{{Short description|US-based registered agent company}}
{{Infobox company
| founded = {{start date and age|2008}}
| founder =
| hq_location_city = [[Sheridan, Wyoming]]
| hq_location_country = United States<ref name=":1" />
| services = [[Registered agent]]
| subsid = [[Epik]]
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
'''Registered Agents Inc. (RAI)''' is an American [[registered agent]] firm founded in 2008. The company provides business formation services to set up [[Limited liability company|limited liability companies]] and [[Corporation|corporations]] and acts as a point of contact for legal notices. The company is headquartered in Wyoming where approximately 120,000 companies are associated with its address.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":13" />
RAI is known for obscuring ownership of the businesses it forms by listing its address and, in some reported instances, the use of [[Pseudonym|fictitious personas]] as the agent of record on clients' business formation documents.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":13" /><ref name=":1" />
In 2024, the company received media coverage after acquiring [[Epik]], a domain registrar and web hosting company known for providing domain registration services to the [[alt-right]].<ref name=":9">{{Cite magazine |last=Turton |first=William |date=February 8, 2024 |title=The Far Right's Favorite Web Host Has a Shadowy New Owner |url=https://www.wired.com/story/epik-domain-registrar-new-owner/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213021939/https://www.wired.com/story/epik-domain-registrar-new-owner/ |archive-date=February 13, 2024 |access-date=February 13, 2024 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Collins |first=Benedict |date=February 9, 2024 |title=The world's most controversial domain registrar has a new owner — and apparently it is "forging a new path" |url=https://www.techradar.com/pro/the-worlds-most-controversial-domain-registrar-has-a-new-owner-and-apparently-it-is-forging-a-new-path |access-date=April 20, 2024 |work=[[TechRadar]] |archive-date=March 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318224700/https://www.techradar.com/pro/the-worlds-most-controversial-domain-registrar-has-a-new-owner-and-apparently-it-is-forging-a-new-path |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":13" />
== History ==
In 2020, RAI threatened to sue a
In January 2024, RAI was reported to serve as the registered agent for a [[vital record]]s intermediary company later shut down by the Wyoming authorities for misrepresentation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McFarland |first=Clair |date=January 19, 2024 |title=Official Wyoming Record-Keeper Warns Of Shady Online Sites Hoarding Personal Data |url=https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/01/19/official-wyoming-record-keeper-warns-of-shady-online-sites-hoarding-personal-data/ |access-date=April 1, 2024 |work=Cowboy State Daily |archive-date=April 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240401211318/https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/01/19/official-wyoming-record-keeper-warns-of-shady-online-sites-hoarding-personal-data/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The same year, an RAI-registered company was linked to an organization providing [[dark money]] to political campaigns, and another was linked to an election [[disinformation]] operation involving a proposed library bond.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Racker |first1=Mini |last2=Sollenberger |first2=Roger |date=May 16, 2024 |title=This Mysterious New GOP Dark Money Group Raises All Kinds of Red Flags |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/mysterious-gop-dark-money-group-ardleigh-impact-corp-raises-all-kinds-of-red-flags |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516175326/https://www.thedailybeast.com/mysterious-gop-dark-money-group-ardleigh-impact-corp-raises-all-kinds-of-red-flags |archive-date=May 16, 2024 |access-date=June 4, 2024 |work=[[The Daily Beast]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hussein |first=Tayeba |date=March 10, 2024 |title=Dirty tricks in Maitland library campaign? Hit mailer flouts political laws |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/03/10/dirty-tricks-in-maitland-library-campaign-hit-mailer-flouts-political-laws/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |archive-date=March 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317154856/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/03/10/dirty-tricks-in-maitland-library-campaign-hit-mailer-flouts-political-laws/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In May 2024, investigative journalist [[Leah Sottile]] found that RAI had formed and maintains a shell company in Wyoming called TwinRay Ventures for secretive religious group, TwinRay, that is based in southern Oregon.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sottile |first1=Leah |author-link=Leah Sottile |date=May 7, 2024 |title=The TwinRay mystery: A spiritual group in Ashland raises eyebrows and worries |url=https://www.opb.org/article/2024/05/07/twinray-ashland-oregon-the-haven-cult/ |access-date=2 August 2024 |website=[[Oregon Public Broadcasting]] |publisher= |archive-date=2 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240802154523/https://www.opb.org/article/2024/05/07/twinray-ashland-oregon-the-haven-cult/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The same month, Wyoming Secretary of State [[Chuck Gray (Wyoming politician)|Chuck Gray]] dissolved three companies registered by RAI that the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) found to be linked to fraud directed by North Korea's [[Ministry of Defence (North Korea)|Ministry of Defence]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Turton |first=William |date=June 5, 2024 |title=A US Company Enabled a North Korean Scam That Raised Money for WMDs |url=https://www.wired.com/story/registered-agents-north-korean-scam-wmds/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605095940/https://www.wired.com/story/registered-agents-north-korean-scam-wmds/ |archive-date=June 5, 2024 |access-date=June 5, 2024 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wolfson |first=Leo |date=May 21, 2024 |title=Chuck Gray Strips North Korean Businesses Of Wyoming Licenses After Flagged By FBI |url=https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/05/21/chuck-gray-strips-3-north-korea-businesses-flagged-by-fbi-of-wyoming-licenses/ |access-date=May 23, 2024 |work=Cowboy State Daily |archive-date=May 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522002142/https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/05/21/chuck-gray-strips-3-north-korea-businesses-flagged-by-fbi-of-wyoming-licenses/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gookin |first=Marit |date=May 22, 2024 |title=North Korean businesses registered under false information dissolved |url=https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/wyoming/article_d053d555-954e-56c2-86f6-5f44e6afa2f6.html |access-date=May 23, 2024 |work=[[Gillette News Record]] |archive-date=May 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522190807/https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/wyoming/article_d053d555-954e-56c2-86f6-5f44e6afa2f6.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Subsidiaries ==
In June 2023, RAI acquired [[Epik]], a [[domain name registrar]] and [[web hosting service]] catering to [[Far-right politics|far-right]] and [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] websites that have been denied service by other [[
RAI also owns a software development company called Two Barrels LLC and a company that helps manage multiple corporation filings called Corporate Tools LLC.<ref name=":13" />
== See also ==
* [[Shell corporation]]
* [[Shelf corporation]]
* [[Beneficial ownership]]
== References ==
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* {{Official website}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Companies based in Wyoming]]
[[Category:Business services companies established in 2008]]
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