Lonely Planet is the largest travel guide book publisher in the world. The company is owned by American billionaire Brad Kelley's NC2 Media, which bought it in 2013 from BBC Worldwide for US$77 million after it was valued at US$250 million in 2008. After the Let's Go travel guide series that was founded in 1960, the Lonely Planet books were one of the first series of travel books aimed at backpackers and other low-cost travellers.