INVESTING – July 29 – Shares of Match Group jumped Tuesday after the announcement that Jim Lanzone was named the CEO. The stock is up ~8% to a record high. Tinder's direct revenue grew 31% YOY, driven by 28% average subscriber growth and 2% growth in average revenue per user in the Q1. Tinder averaged 6M subscribers in the first quarter.
Category: Match Group
Tinder Names New CEO
VARIETY – July 28 – Jim Lanzone, former head of CBS Interactive, has been appointed Tinder's new CEO. Lanzone takes over the role from Elie Seidman, who is stepping down. Lanzone starts at Tinder on Aug. 3, reporting to Match Group CEO Shar Dubey. Lanzone had spent nine years at CBS, most recently president and CEO of CBS Interactive. He exited CBS last fall to join venture-capital firm Benchmark Capital as executive-in-residence. Earlier in his career, Lanzone was CEO of Ask.com, which he joined in 2001 after its acquisition of eTour.com, where he was co-founder and president.
Is Video Dating Here to Stay?
BBC – July 21 – Video dating surged during lockdowns, but how much will the trend stick around in the 'new normal'? A recent survey from Match showed that 69% of users in the US were open to video chatting, whereas just 6% had tried it before the pandemic. There was also a surge in interest in livestreaming dating games, with The Meet Group, a US market leader in the sector, reporting a 95% surge in usage of its products since March. These include video speed-dating events and blind-dating games for users who want to focus on personality rather than looks. Dr Helen Fisher, who works as an advisor to Match Group, says that lockdowns around the world followed a period in which many millennials were already experiencing swiping fatigue. Dating app growth slowed globally in 2019, and Fisher's own research before the pandemic suggested a growing appetite for closer emotional connections developed over a longer period, instead of casual hook-ups. With countries now easing lockdowns, most dating experts think people will quickly return to developing romantic relationships offline, rather than focusing on video-based dating. However, there is a consensus that the trend for video dating won't disappear completely, with many suggesting that video calls in the 'new normal' will form part of a screening process before a first real-life date.
by Maddy Savage
See full article at BBC
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Tinder’s “Army of Swipers” Continues to Grow
VISUAL CAPITALIST – July 15 – Almost half of Americans today between the ages of 18 and 29 report having used a dating site or app to find a partner. Match Group acquired some 20 companies throughout its brief history. As a result, Match Group now has an impressive 45 dating services in its growing roster. Since their 2015 IPO, Match Group's stock is up 600%, reaching a market capitalization of $25B. Tinder now claims 59M people.
Match Group’s Hawaya Launches in Canada
NEWSWIRE.CA – July 13 – Hawaya, a dating app designed for Muslim men and women with serious intentions, is currently available in 11 countries, with plans to expand to the U.S. and U.K. this summer. The app is making its North American debut in Canada. Hawaya was founded in 2017 by Sameh Saleh, who crafted the app to help his sister go through a pleasant, comfortable and safe journey towards marriage.
Match Group COO Gary Swidler on Video Dating
CNBC – July 9 – Gary Swidler, COO of Match Group, talks about the company's new video product, race filters and user engagement during the pandemic.
Match Investors Sue IAC Over ‘Grossly Unfair’ Split
LAW360 – June 30 – A class of Match Group stockholders are suing IAC and media mogul Barry Diller, saying an elaborately conflicted separation of the two companies could cost Match and its stockholders billions.
Match Group Completes Separation From IAC
TECH CRUNCH – July 2 – Previously, Match Group was a publicly-traded company, with digital holding company IAC as its majority shareholder. Last year, the companies announced a plan that would see IAC's ownership of Match distributed to IAC's shareholders – a plan that is now completed. The separation also involves a leadership change, with Mark Stein and Gregg Winiarski stepping down from the Match Group board. The company has four new board members: ExecOnline CEO Stephen Bailey, the NBA's executive president for digital media Melissa Brenner, investor and entrepreneur Wendi Murdoch and actor Ryan Reynolds. Shar Dubey will continue to serve as Match Group's CEO, a position she took at the beginning of this year, while Joey Levin remains a both IAC's CEO and Match Group's executive chairman.
Dating Apps Pivot to Video
WALL STREET JOURNAL – July 1 – With social distancing recommendations and laws in effect across the country, meeting people online and developing relationships virtually has never been more popular. Georgia Wells, WSJ's technology reporter and Mark Brooks, CEO of the Courtland Brooks consultancy-agency explore what this shift means for the future of online dating.
IAC and Match Group Complete Business Separation
SEEKING ALPHA – July 1 – That means today, "new" IAC will trade under the IAC symbol, and "new" Match Group under its MTCH symbol. Match Group's dual-class voting structure has been eliminated, and the interest in Match Group that used to be held by IAC is now held directly by IAC shareholders. Specifically, IAC shareholders received one share of "new" IAC common stock and 2.1584 shares of "new" Match Group for each share of IAC common stock held. And IAC received $838M of cash, representing $3/share of Match Group stock previously held. IAC expects to receive an additional $1.4B from the sale of shares of New Match, set to close later today.