Ed Magedson (pronounced Maj-ed-sen) is the founder and "ED"itor-in-Chief of the Ripoff Report website located at https://www.ripoffreport.com/, which he began in 1997. Over the past decade, Ed has been called everything from "consumer hero" to "internet terrorist". However, Ed's story began long before there was such a thing as the Internet.

A native New Yorker, Ed was born in Brooklyn and raised in Long Island, New York. His family lived across the street from a carnation farm and when he was 10 years old, Ed occasionally worked around the farm. This prepared him for his first business venture, a nationwide flower business called The Flower Children.

When Ed was 12, he wanted to be a veterinarian. He bought several horses over time and competed in many horse shows with many trophies. He worked nights in a Long Island bakery and spent his days helping a veterinarian at the Roosevelt Raceway. He was fired after turning in trainers for pumping injured horses with drugs so they could race. Ed is an animal lover and started a Foundation to stop euthanization of dogs by counties across America. Still a work in progress, Ed vows to complete it. Learn more here: Forever Care No Kill Pet Rescue Foundation.

Ed also had a natural ear for music. At just 5 years old, he taught himself piano, and by 12 he was playing organ in popular rock bands with musicians twice his age. Too young to enter bars legally, he was disguised to look older so he could perform.

Ed’s entrepreneurial drive began when he started selling flowers on street corners. By 17, he had expanded this into a business, and by 21 he was president of a nationwide firm called The Flower Children. At its peak, it operated in 35 states. Media dubbed him “The Flower Child Entrepreneur.”

Click here to read a 1973 Tampa Tribune article about Ed's flower business

From the very beginning, the flower business flourished. But the business also met with serious adversity, which started Ed in the direction of his current passion for consumer advocacy. Big flower companies used their political influence to harass Ed's vendors with phony violations, but Ed never backed down.

Click here to read about Ed's battle with zoning inspectors

These early fights planted the seed for what would become Ripoff Report. Ed always challenged corruption, never paying lawyers a dime, and always standing up for his workers and his principles.

In the 1990s, Ed developed housing projects in upstate New York, where he faced discrimination and harassment. Later, in Mesa, Arizona, he battled city corruption while standing up for exploited immigrant workers, raising awareness of their mistreatment long before it became mainstream news.

All of these experiences — entrepreneurship, corruption battles, and advocacy — led Ed to launch Ripoff Report as a mission, not a business. His book Rip-off Revenge explains how his goal was always to give consumers the tools to fight back against business bullies.

Today, Ed Magedson continues his mission from Arizona, fighting for free speech and consumer rights while supporting no-kill animal shelters: Forever Care No Kill Pet Rescue Foundation.