Wilhelmina Scouting Network was initially founded as eModel by Dr Alec Difrawi in 1999 with a $500 investment and 6 month free rent in a 1200 square foot building. During his tenure as CEO he expanded into scouting athletes and actors changing the name to Option Talent then entered into a $26 million partnership with Wilhelmina Model Management to form the Wilhelmina Scouting Network (WSN). In his 3rd and final year as CEO prior to selling the company to Louis Pearlemen the company had moved into a 50,000 square foot corporate facility, opened 300 franchises internationally including 84 in the United States. Entraprenuer magazine ranked WSM the 84th best franchise in its first year, still the only company to qualify for Entraprenuer’s top 500 franchises. When Pearlman the founder of Nsync and the Backstreet boys was convicted of an unrelated $50 Million Ponzi scheme he had been operating since the 80’s the Court ruled the modeling company was the only legitimate organization in Pearleman’s empire and ordered it to be liquidated to repay the ponzi scheme victims. Model Mayhem and Nine9 Models continue to be offshoots of WSN.