Well, it seems that the 24 hour auction was not really a 24 hour auction. Just 14 hours after receiving the initial email, the site has been sold.

We have some great news for everyone that was worried in the last few hours. We've found the perfect candidates to continue with the site. I just spoke over the phone with Paul Hartrick and Neal Duckett, both part of the MEW community, and they have convinced me that they are genuinely interested and motivated to take MEW to the next level. The fact that there are now two owners is fantastic because this means that the productivity has just doubled. We have agreed that everything remains as is for the current page owners, including the ipod giveaway and affiliate programs. Here's a direct quote from an email after we came to this agreement:

Re-assure everyone that with 2 - 4 people (partners included) actively marketing MEW that it will fast become the number 1 Million$$Wiki site Existing Affiliate program and iPod program will remain for existing customers. This deal was made on the back of a 1 hour conference call to ensure the right people will now run the site. We are not a couple of young kids making a quick buck, we are in for the long haul and will constantly strive to ensure everyone get value for money. Regular updates to Main page Regular Blog updates We are on a different timezone to most customers so please understand this difference. We are open for constructive criticism and will act upon feedback from customers and partners as needed.

Things can really only get better from here on, these guys sound like they know what they're doing and they are committed to make this work for all of us. I'm sure they will properly introduce themselves after this announcement, but I'd like to thank them for making the right decision for all of us. Once again, we're sorry for the slight panic that was caused with the auction, but it was the only way in our opinion to flush out the right people to continue and elevate this project. We're confident that Paul and Neil's joined efforts will translate in fantastic results for everyone that's involved in the community.

So, with that, the site has new owners. Sounds like they know what they are doing.

And here's the first email from the new owners;

Thanks for the introduction Bob. After an interesting day for all of us waking up to a series of emails from around the globe, we're very pleased to have come to an agreement with Bob to take over the Million Euro Wiki effective immediately and accelerate it's exposure over the coming weeks, build the community and ensure each and every page holder reaps the benefits.

As Bob pointed out we believe coming into this as a team we are able to devote the necessary time it deserves from a workload and a creative marketing approach to make it a success.

Over the coming days we will be finalising a seemless transition from Bob to Paul and myself and we will keep you informed at every milestone. We are experienced in the Wiki system having cut our teeth on the MDW.

We're looking forward to exciting times ahead!

I'm sort of annoyed about it, because I was still considering making a bid for the site, after all it would have been much easier to take the existing codebase and do what I want rather than have someone code it up from scratch. Never mind, all these emails received overnight made for some fun reading this morning