Tinder Co-Founder Sean Rad Out as CEO Investor IAC will keep Rad on until it finds an 'Eric Schmidt-like' replacement.
By Jason Fell
Tinder's largest stakeholder has swiped left on the CEO of the popular dating app.
Barry Diller's IAC is apparently looking for an "Eric Schmidt-like person" to replace Sean Rad as chief executive, according to a 3,400-word feature from Forbes. Schmidt, of course, is Google's executive chairman.
For the time being, Rad will act as president and remain on Tinder's board. He will stay on as acting CEO until Tinder and IAC can find a replacement, Forbes says.
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The Tinder team has faced various controversies since starting up, such as complaints that users were being baited by bots disguised as real people. But the heat was really turned up this summer when the company's former vice president Whitney Wolfe sued Tinder, and parent companies IAC and Match.com, on charges of sexual harassment and sex discrimination.
In her suit, Wolfe alleged that Tinder's other co-founder and CMO, Justin Mateen, called her a sexually offensive name at a company event and in the presence of Rad. It turns out that Mateen and Wolfe also dating at one point. Wolfe also claimed to be one of the company's original founders.
Mateen was immediately suspended as CMO and resigned in September, one day after the case with Wolfe had been settled.
Related: Tinder Suspends Co-Founder Over Sexual Harassment Claims
But the damage had apparently been done, and Rad's close ties with Mateen weren't viewed positively by management at IAC. Rad received the bad news via a phone call from Sam Yagan, is the CEO of The Match Group, a division of IAC, according to Forbes.
Rad spoke with BIZ Experiences back in March and talked about the passion and dedication he and Mateen had for Tinder. "Justin and I, we're both relatively young and we're dedicated to what we're doing," he said. "We actually socialize with our users a lot to try to better understand them. We've both sort of accepted the idea that we're sacrificing our own personal development in exchange to ensure Tinder's development. That's what it takes."
A Tinder spokesperson did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Related: Tinder Co-Founder Sean Rad on the Hot Dating App's Viral Success
