Chris Payne out as Tinder CEO after only five months; Sean Rad is taking back the position
Christopher Payne is out on Tinder as the CEO after handling it for five months. Tinder co-founder Sean Rad will regain his position. All at once, Greg Blatt is appointed as Tinder Executive Chairman.
"I enjoyed my time at Tinder but we mutually determined that this wasn't going to be optimal and thought that a quick transition served everybody best," Chris Payne said in a news from the Re/Code.
Tinder board member Matt Cohler said it's a mutual decision. Since Tinder has been growing rapidly and the company's future plans doesn't fit Payne in long-term, Cohler said it's better to take actions immediately. Everyone on the board, including Mr. Payne agreed, pointing out it is the best way to do and would benefit everyone.
Sean Rad, the co-founder and Tinder CEO before Payne says he's committed to improving Tinder and make it one of the best.
Greg Blatt, an IAC executive, will be appointed as the executive chairman of Tinder. He will help the team adding new talent and experience to enhance its capabilities in achieving the company's ambition.
Five months ago, Rad was kicked out as the company's CEO. It's the board's deliberation in accordance to a lawsuit filed by Whitney Wolfe; a co-founder and a former VP of Marketing in Tinder.
Wolfe accused another co-founder Justin Mateen of sending sexist and racist messages after the couple ended their relationship. Mateen humiliated Wolfe in front of Rad and was later fired as VP of Marketing.
In a report from the Telegraph, Wolfe settled the issue out of the court with only $1M. Mateen had been suspended and resigned afterwards.
Tinder is a matchmaking app founded in California in 2012. It connects to user's social media profile to collect images and information. The app will analyze each social graph and links it up to the most compatible match, cited on Tech Crunch.
The app was built by Sean Rad along with his team; Whitney Wolfe, Justin Mateen, Jonathan Badeen, Christopher Gulczynski and Joe Munoz.