One of the most talked about names of social media: Who is Andrew Tate?

Andrew Tate, or “Emory Andrew Tate III” as he is full, has garnered a lot of attention with his social media posts in the last two years.

However, Tate was arrested by Romanian police on 29 December 2023 as part of an investigation into human trafficking, rape, and organized crime. So who exactly is Andrew Tate, who apparently fell on the road to being arrested for being an internet phenomenon?

It didn't all start with social media:

Born in 1986, Andrew Tate started his life career with kickboxing before jumping into social media. Tate, who entered boxing and martial arts in 2005, also appeared in small television commercials at that time.

Emory Andrew Tate III (born December 1, 1986) is a British and American social media personality, businessman, and former professional kickboxer. Tate began practicing kickboxing in 2005 and gained his first championship in 2009. He attracted wider attention in 2016, when he appeared on the British reality show Big Brother and was removed after his comments on social media attracted controversy. He began offering paid courses and memberships through his website and rose to fame as an internet celebrity, promoting an "ultra-masculine, ultra-luxurious lifestyle". Tate's misogynistic commentary has resulted in his suspension from several social media platforms.

When the calendars showed 2008, Tate's fame spread around the world. Tate has been named the seventh-best low-weight kickboxer in the UK by the International Sports Kickboxing Association (ISKA). In 2009, he won his first championship.

Tate's success continued to grow. Tate, who won the ISKA World Championship in 2011, doubled this award in 2013. After this victory, he said goodbye to martial arts in the professional arena.

It has a reputation, it has a commercial history: It's time to get on TV

Tate began appearing on the UK reality show Big Brother in 2016. His comments on the program started discussions about him on social media even then.

Tate was constantly lynched on Twitter for his homophobic and racist remarks. Tate moved to Romania from the UK in 2017.

Don't go on social media:

Tate was also active on social media when he was lynched. But his real rise was the videos he posted on TikTok and Instagram which went viral on social media.

In his videos, Tate said that "women belong in the house", "can't drive", and "give men and belong to men". He also talked about his luxurious life, humiliating those who did not fit his views, posing in his latest model cars, and consuming tobacco.

One of his most famous videos: His response to someone who doesn't like the color of his car: "What color is your Bugatti?"

Andrew Tate has raised his social media presence to alarming levels, fueling discussions that he is particularly badly impacting young people.

But different things were going on in the background:

Tate was selling courses on wealth and “male-female interactions” on its website. However, it was also stated that he owned a webcam studio on the same site and used his girlfriends as employees. Tate's work was confirmed by himself.

Tate and his brother Tristan set up a service that told fake stories to men on the phone and hired some 75 webcam models.

There is also the Ponzi scheme aspect of the matter:

Another Tate site, Hustler's University, offers access to educational content on topics like dropshipping and cryptocurrency trading for a monthly fee. However, members can also earn commissions by bringing new members to the platform.

Moreover, Tate also asked those who were members of the platform throughout 2022 to crop their own video and post it on social media. Especially with this effort, Tate's visibility on social media increased, and the number of members on the platform exceeded 100 thousand.

After a while, Tate shared a statement from his Gettr account, stating that he is now a member of the Islamic religion.

However, Stripe, which offers payment services to its website, withdrew its support when the number of members exceeded 100 thousand. The platform no longer allows members to earn commission money.

Now let's move on to the darker side of himself: the crimes leveled up to his arrest on December 29...

We mentioned that Tate moved to Romania in 2017. According to some sources, the reason for this move was actually to escape from the police force in the country. He even said this directly in one of his videos and officially confessed to his guilt… Tate described his departure from Romania in the video that was removed:

“I'm not a rapist, but I like the idea of being able to do whatever I want. I love being free."

Moreover, he also said that 40% of the reason for his departure was rape accusations against him in the UK.

Operations against Tate finally begin:

While the webcam business model that emerged in January had already attracted attention, a major accusation came against Tate. The US Embassy informed Romanian forces that a 21-year-old woman was held at Tate's home against her will.

Romanian police raided Tate's mansion and found out that two women in the house had been held against their will. But enough evidence was not found, and Tate and his brother were released. Of course, Tate also left Romania for a while.

The raid on December 29 was an expected day for Tate. Romanian police were now monitoring Tate's visit to Romania. Tate's arrest came right after the video he shot in response to Greta Thunberg's exit.

Tate, his brother, and a former female police officer suspected of involvement in the crime were arrested. Romanian authorities announced that they had found and identified six women who had been sexually abused by suspects in various parts of Bucharest.