Match Group

Match Group, Inc. is an Internet company headquartered in Dallas that owns and operates several online dating services including Tinder, Match.com, Meetic, OkCupid, Hinge, PlentyOfFish, and OurTime. In 2019, the company had 9.283 million subscribers, of which 4.554 million were in North America.[1]

Match Group, Inc.
Public company
Traded asNASDAQ: MTCH
Russell 1000 Index component
IndustryOnline dating service
HeadquartersDallas, Texas, United States
Key people
Joey Levin, Chairman
Shar Dubey, CEO
Gary Swidler, CFO
Revenue US$2.051 billion (2019)
US$534 million (2019)
Total assets US$2.423 billion (2019)
Total equity US$319 million (2019)
Number of employees
1,700 (2019)
Websitemtch.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

History

The company was incorporated on February 12, 2009 as a subsidiary of IAC.[1]

On November 19, 2015, the company became a public company via an initial public offering.[2]

In the summer of 2017, the company offered to acquire Bumble for $450 million.[3]

In January 2018, Mandy Ginsberg, formerly the CEO of Match North America, replaced Greg Blatt as CEO of the company.[4]

In August 2018, Tinder co-founder Sean Rad filed a $2 billion lawsuit against Match Group, claiming that Match Group and its parent company IAC purposely undervalued Tinder to avoid paying out stock options to the company's original team.[5] Rad and his co-plaintiffs also accused the former Tinder CEO, Greg Blatt, of sexual harassment.[6] The company said that the allegations are "meritless".[7]

In February 2019, Match Group acquired dating app Hinge.[8][9]

In August 2019, the company acquired Harmonica, an Egyptian online dating service.[10][11][12][13]

In January 2020, Mandy Ginsberg stepped down as chief executive officer due to personal reasons.[14][15][16] Shar Dubey, then President of Match Group, became the CEO of the company effective March 1, 2020.[17][18]

In July 2020, the company completed the separation from IAC. Ryan Reynolds and Wendi Murdoch joined the board of directors.[19][20][21]

In 2019, the company was sued by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for allegations of unfair and deceptive trade practices. According to the FTC's civil complaint, the company used fake love interest ads to encourage free users to pay for premium subscription services on Match.com. Accounts that were flagged as suspicious or potentially fraudulent by the site were prevented from messaging paid subscribers, but were allowed to continue messaging free users who were tricked into believing that the suspicious accounts were real users encouraging them to subscribe and connect with them. The company denied the allegations. The FTC further alleged that the company offered false promises of guarantees, failed to provide support to customers who unsuccessfully disputed chargers, and made it overly difficult for users to cancel their subscriptions.[22][23][24][25]

Dating services owned

As of July, 2020, Match Group owns the following dating services;[26]

  • Ablo
  • Amourex
  • Black People Meet
  • BLK
  • Chispa
  • Disons Demain
  • Hawaya (formerly Harmonica)
  • Hinge
  • Lexa.nl
  • Love Scout 24
  • Match.com
  • Meetic
  • neu.de
  • OkCupid
  • OurTime
  • Pairs
  • ParPerfeito
  • Plenty of Fish
  • Ship
  • Tinder
  • Twoo

References
  1. "Match Group, Inc. 2019 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  2. Plaugic, Lizzie (November 19, 2015). "Tinder parent company Match Group is now public". The Verge.
  3. Tepper, Fitz (August 23, 2017). "Match Group tried to acquire Bumble for $450 million". TechCrunch.
  4. GALLAGHER, LEIGH (June 27, 2018). "Match Is the Sweetheart of Online Dating—But Can It Fend Off Facebook and Bumble?". Fortune.
  5. Carman, Ashley (June 14, 2019). "Tinder co-founder's lawsuit against Tinder parent company moves closer to a trial". The Verge.
  6. Bort, Julie (August 14, 2018). "Tinder founders say former CEO 'groped and sexually harassed' an executive at a company party in a bombshell $2 billion lawsuit". Business Insider.
  7. Ha, Anthony (August 14, 2018). "Tinder founders sue parent companies Match and IAC for at least $2B". TechCrunch.
  8. Tiffany, Kaitlyn (February 11, 2019). "Nearly all of the big dating apps are now owned by the same company". Vox.
  9. Perez, Sarah (February 7, 2019). "Match Group fully acquires relationship-focused app Hinge". TechCrunch.
  10. "Internet Giant Match Group Announces Acquisition Of Harmonica App And A New Leadership Team In Egypt". Africa.com. August 7, 2019.
  11. Salah, Mohammed (August 7, 2019). "Online dating giant Match Group acquires Egyptian dating startup Harmonica to expand into Muslim-majority markets". MENAbytes.
  12. "Match Group acquires Harmonica, the Egypt-based "halal Tinder"". Enterprise. August 8, 2019.
  13. Mpala, Daniel (August 7, 2019). "Tinder parent company Match Group acquires Egypt's Harmonica". Ventureburn.
  14. Wells, Georgia (January 28, 2020). "Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg Steps Down". The Wall Street Journal.
  15. Perez, Sarah (January 28, 2020). "Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg is stepping down". TechCrunch.
  16. Primack, Dan (January 28, 2020). "Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg steps down". Axios.
  17. "Match Group Names Sharmistha Dubey Chief Executive Officer" (Press release). PR Newswire. January 28, 2020.
  18. MURRAY, ALAN; MEYER, DAVID (January 29, 2020). "Our economic picture is unprecedented in modern history". Fortune.
  19. "IAC and Match Group Complete Full Separation" (Press release). PR Newswire. July 1, 2020.
  20. Ha, Anthony (July 1, 2020). "Match Group completes separation from IAC, new board includes Wendi Murdoch and Ryan Reynolds". TechCrunch.
  21. Carville, Olivia (July 1, 2020). "Match Assembles More Diverse Board After Spinoff From IAC". Bloomberg News.
  22. Drayton, Nicole (September 25, 2019). "FTC Sues Owner of Online Dating Service Match.com for Using Fake Love Interest Ads To Trick Consumers into Paying for a Match.com Subscription" (Press release). Federal Trade Commission.
  23. Ivanova, Irina (September 25, 2019). "Government sues Match.com over fake "love interest" messages". CBS News.
  24. Palmer, Annie (September 25, 2019). "Match Group stock slides after FTC sues the company for placing fake ads on its site". CNBC.
  25. Holson, Laura M. (September 25, 2019). "Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says". The New York Times.
  26. "Match Group, May 2020, quarterly report" (PDF). Retrieved July 7, 2020.
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