Controversial Genius Co-Founder Mahbod Moghadam Dies at 41 from Brain Tumor Complications
• Mahbod Moghadam, controversial co-founder of Genius and Everipedia, passed away at 41 due to complications from a brain tumor.
• Moghadam co-founded Rap Genius in 2009 after being laid off from a law firm, later expanding it into Genius. He resigned in 2014 over controversial annotations he posted.
• He was interested in ensuring creators get paid directly for their work, co-founding platforms like HellaDoge and conceptualizing Communistagram.
• Moghadam helped build Genius's early success but also stirred controversy with provocative public comments stemming from a benign brain tumor.
• Though achieving early fame via Genius, Moghadam later expressed regret that Genius contributors weren't paid and slammed its sale and CEO.