PRESSORACLE – Aug 18 – Match Group CEO Amanda Ginsberg sold 106,850 shares of the company's stock on Tuesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.37, for a total transaction of $5,275,184.50. Following the sale, she now owns 62,682 shares in the company, valued at ~ $3M.
Category: Match Group
Tinder & Match Lawsuit: Match Group’s Statement
Match Group statement: The allegations in the complaint are meritless, and IAC and Match Group intend to vigorously defend against them. Match Group and the plaintiffs went through a rigorous, contractually – defined valuation process involving two independent global investment banks, and Mr. Rad and his merry band of plaintiffs did not like the outcome. Mr. Rad and Mr. Mateen may not like the fact that Tinder has experienced enormous success following their respective departures. Mr. Rad has a rich history of outlandish public statements, and this lawsuit contains just another series of them. We look forward to defending our position in court.
by Anthony Ha
See full article at Tech Crunch
Tinder Founders’ Lawsuit Includes #MeToo Allegation Against Ex-CEO
YAHOO NEWS – Aug 14 – A lawsuit against Match Group includes an allegation of sexual misconduct against former CEO and Chairman Greg Blatt. The allegation was mentioned on page six of a lengthy complaint filed by Tinder‘s founders and early employees along with a handful of the dating app’s current executives against Match Group and IAC, alleging a “scheme” to cheat them “out of billions of dollars by violating their contractual rights as option holders.” The complaint goes on to accuse Blatt of groping and sexually harassing Tinder’s VP of marketing and communications during and after Tinder’s 2016 holiday party in LA. Defendants kept Blatt in place as Tinder’s ‘interim’ CEO long enough to complete the private valuation and secret merger of Tinder. But just two weeks after their scheme concluded, defendants publicly announced Blatt’s ‘retirement’ – rewarding him with a lucrative golden parachute.
by Julia La Roche
See full article at Yahoo News
Tinder’s Founders Are Suing Match Group And IAC Saying They’ve Been Ripped Off
by Kif Leswing
See full article at Business Insider
Match Group Is Still Undervalued
Match Group CEO On Earnings Beat And Tinder’s Growth
CNBC – Aug 11 – Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg discusses the company’s second quarter earnings beat, helped by the growth of Tinder and the company’s future.
Match Group’s New Tinder Features After Subscriber Numbers Top Estimates
by Emily Bary
See full article at Marketwatch
Tinder Sends Match Earnings Blazing Past Estimates
BLOOMBERG – Aug 7 – Match Group's revenue jumped 36% to $421.2M in the Q2, exceeding the average forecast of $413M. The operating income of $150M was up 81% YOY. Earnings were 45 cents a share, surpassing projections for 32 cents. Tinder remains the "growth engine" behind Match, said CEO Mandy Ginsberg. Tinder helped boost direct revenue by 136% YOY in the quarter. The app boasts ~3.7M subscribers, an 81% increase since the second quarter of 2017. Total subscribers across Match Group's 45 brands totaled 7.7M for the three months ending June 30. Match said it's expecting as much as $440M in revenue in the current quarter. For the full year, Match raised the top end of its revenue range by $20M to as much as $1.72B. Match rolled out Picks earlier in the summer, an add-on to the monetized Tinder Gold feature that highlights most likely matches to users. It will also introduce Tinder U, which targets the college-student demographic, in the next few weeks.
by Emily McCormick
See full article at Bloomberg
Will Facebook’s Dating Crush Match?
SEEKING ALPHA – Aug 7 – On May 1st, Facebook announced that it would be entering the online dating market. Prior to this date, Match stock increased 151% since early August driven by consistent user growth and increasing monetization. With the stock now 21% from its peak, does this present a buying opportunity, or the start of a bigger decline amidst heavy competition?
Facebook May See Some Success, but Not Likely to Slow Match Growth
- Facebook's demographics do not align with online dating.
- Its core audience is older, which doesn't align well with the younger crowd on Tinder.
- Users want to keep social media and dating separate.
- Facebook has historically struggled to disrupt other industries.
- Facebook's entry could actually further destigmatize online dating.
- Match, and Tinder still have numerous growth drivers. Match has ~7M paid members across their platforms, which is an estimated 10% of total members. Match Group is expect to launch a new feature in 2H18 that could drive further ARPU and subscriber growth.
Facebook's Success is a Risk to Consider
- Facebook has a huge user base and can invest significantly in the space if they choose to do so.
- Facebook could also roll out the feature to Instagram, which has a demographic more aligned with Tinder.
- People are already using Facebook and Instagram for dating purposes. A more explicit feature could see success.
See full article at Seeking Alpha
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Q&A With Mandy Ginsberg, CEO Of Match Group
RECODE – Aug 1 – On this episode of Recode Decode, Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg talks with Recode's Kurt Wagner about how her company became dominant in online dating. Ginsberg also talks about Facebook dating and her admiration for Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe, even as the two companies have traded lawsuits and barbed words in the press, and why it's natural for consumers of different ages to use different apps.
Q: When Facebook announced its entry into online dating, what was going through your mind? Were you surprised?
A: Yes, that actual day I was. I had just printed the script for our earning call and I threw it behind my desk, I just tossed it. It was not shocking because we've studied the single population and people were saying that they met their partners through Facebook. But it was surprising because Facebook has stayed away from online dating quite intentionally.
Q: Lets talk about Bumble. Where do you stand now?
A: I have a tremendous amount of respect for the brand and what Bumble has done and what Whitney has done. But we own a patent around swiping and unlocking communication, which we are really excited about. We never had that before. And honestly, you don't use a patent unless you feel that it's defensible because it's expensive, and it takes a long time. So anyway, we scoured, looked at all the competition. There were several competitors that were big that were infringing on the patent. And so we made a decision to go after Bumble, Tantan and some other ones too that we've actually sent letters to as well, that they've now adjusted their products or are in talks with us.
Q: What's the thinking when you are talking to a company about a potential acquisition and then you sue them?
A: Businesses and deals will come and go. This is about protecting the integrity of your work.