Jim Watkins (businessman)

James Arthur Watkins was born in Dayton, Washington, and grew up on a family farm in Mukilteo, Washington. His mother worked for Boeing and his father worked for a phone company. Over his time in the Army, he worked as a helicopter mechanic and recruiter; he reached the rank of sergeant first class in 1994. The Army sent him to a technology school in Virginia in 1987, where he learned about computers and the early Internet. == Career ==

In 1998, while still enlisted, Watkins created a website for Japanese pornography called "Asian Bikini Bar". Watkins dismissed the claim as "an attempt to smear [his] name and print something awful". Watkins has been involved in many business ventures. He operated an organic food restaurant in Manila, Philippines, which is now closed. In 2005, Watkins opened a Manila-based software business called Race Queen, which has subsequently been listed as the employer on Philippine work visas for several employees of Watkins'. Watkins also runs the Manila-based business Loki Technology. He has also been involved with a book narration company called books.audio; he narrated some of the books himself under the alias "A.J.". Watkins is also listed as the chairman of the board of a company called Emerald , which sells piglets. The site's content has been described by The Washington Post as "notably conspiratorial and amateurish". == Online anonymous communities ==

2channel 2channel is a textboard website that is extremely popular in Japan, particularly among the very right-wing netto-uyoku. It was created in 1999 by Hiroyuki Nishimura, and is the predecessor to all other "chan" sites including 4chan and 8chan. He has continued to run the website since, renaming it to 5channel in October 2017 to avoid potential trademark litigation from Nishimura, who owns the "2channel" trademark. Watkins has claimed he seized the 2channel domain because the loss of revenue from the data breach made Nishimura unable to pay hosting costs. Nishimura has claimed that he paid Watkins in full, and that Watkins' seizure of the domain constitutes domain hijacking. 8chan 8chan, later renamed 8kun, is an imageboard website known for hosting alt-right and racist content, for being a forum for child pornography, for its role in the Gamergate harassment campaign, and for its being the only site to host free talk about multiple mass shootings. Watkins' son, Ron Watkins, told his father about the website after learning of it from an Al Jazeera America documentary about Brennan. Brennan agreed to work for Jim Watkins, and in 2014 moved to Manila in the Philippines to join him. In 2014, Watkins became the official owner and operator of 8chan. Brennan remained the site administrator until 2016, at which time he relinquished the role. Wired magazine reported he left the position due to stress; others have attributed his departure to Brennan growing disgusted with the site and its contents, and asking to be reassigned to work elsewhere. Brennan stopped working on and posting at 8chan, continuing instead to work for Watkins on the 2channel project. In 2019, the perpetrators of the March Christchurch mosque shootings, the April Poway synagogue shooting, and the August El Paso shooting all used 8chan to disseminate their respective manifestos. The site was removed from the clearnet shortly after the August shooting due to suspensions of service from multiple providers, and did not return until November 2019. In August 2019, the United States House Committee on Homeland Security called Watkins to testify about 8chan's efforts to address "the proliferation of extremist content, including white supremacist content". The next month, Watkins traveled to Washington, D.C. for congressional questioning. On March 6, 2026, two domains connected to 5channel were permanently suspended by the registrar, Epik. According to an email from Epik shared by Watkins, the suspension was due to animal cruelty content and failure to moderate the platform in accordance with the registrar's terms of service. In addition, all of Watkin's accounts were suspended and any remaining domains were to be transferred away by March 9. The suspended domains were not eligible for transfer. 8kun.net was one of the domains likely to be affected, according to Watkin's statement on X. == QAnon ==

QAnon is a discredited far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles running a global child sex-trafficking ring is plotting against President Donald Trump, who is battling them. Many conspiracy theory researchers believe that Watkins or his son, Ron Watkins, are working with Q, know Q, or have assumed Q's identity. When 8chan was taken off the internet in August 2019 following three mass shootings, Q stopped posting; when it came back online in November, Q reappeared. QAnon researcher Marc-Andre Argentino said in March 2020 that based on an analysis of Q's posts, he believes Watkins has been posting as Q since autumn 2019. PJ Vogt of Reply All has said he discussed Brennan's theory with other journalists who write about Q, and that "some of them think it's likely, everyone agrees it's more than plausible". Watkins has denied knowledge of Q's identity, as has his son, Ron Watkins. Benjamin Barr, an attorney who has represented Watkins in the past and who is known for his involvement with the American right-wing activist group Project Veritas, also helped with the super PAC. , the super PAC had raised less than $4,000 and spent less than $700, with none of the spending going towards federal candidates. In November 2020, Washington Monthly reported that the "Disarm the Deep State" super PAC had raised just 4,736 dollars, including a 500 dollars loan from Watkins' lawyer. Media Matters for America reported in April 2020 that the super PAC was buying advertisements from Watkins to place on the 8chan website, and that it was one of the only groups advertising on the site. In October 2020, Watkins was a featured speaker at Q Con Live!, a conference for QAnon adherents that was held in Scottsdale, Arizona. On June 6, 2022, while testifying under oath to the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, Watkins distanced himself from the conspiracy theory and claimed that QAnon is "manufactured by the left-wing media", "mostly" by Media Matters which he said is "funded by George Soros". == Personal life ==

While Watkins was stationed in South Korea with the Army, he met his first wife, Ton Sun Watkins. In 1987, they had their first child, Ronald "Ron" Watkins. The family moved often because of Watkins' military service, spending the longest period in Mukilteo, Washington. Watkins and Ton Sun divorced when their son was a teenager, at which point his son began to live primarily with Ton Sun. In October 2001, Watkins traveled to Manila in the Philippines and married his second wife, Liezel, three weeks after arriving. Watkins began moving to the Philippines in 2004, and started living there permanently in 2007. Ron served as 8chan's site administrator from 2016 until 2020. Watkins' interests include yoga and fountain pens. He has recorded videos on YouTube about these subjects. == References ==