How Tinder and Hinge owner Match Group grew to have the country's biggest monopoly on online dating - but let Bumble get away

Avery Hartmans,Allana AkhtarFeb 3, 2021, 20:54 IST

OkCupid; Hinge; Match Group; Tinder; Plenty of Fish; Samantha Lee/Insider

Match Group owns Tinder, OkCupid, and every other big online dating site in the US — except Bumble.
Bumble's CEO, an ex-Tinder executive, sued Match Group's parent company for discrimination in 2014.
Here's how Match Group went from a failing dating site for Boomers to the country's largest online dating conglomerate.

Online dating can be messy. The companies that run online dating can be messier.

Match Group, which started as one lonely Stanford Business School graduate's attempt to build a less embarrassing way to find love online in the '90s, has turned into a titan that owns nearly every US dating site.

College campus mainstay Tinder, serious relationship finder OkCupid, and Christian teen dating site Upward all belong to Match Group. Billionaire Barry Diller's holding group IAC founded Match Group before it spun out the dating conglomerate last year.

Bumble, however, is conspicuously absent from Match's portfolio. Bumble's CEO, ex-Tinder executive Whitney Wolfe Herd, has a toxic history with the online dating group.

Ahead of Bumble's entrance into Nasdaq, here's the decades-long history into how Match Group became the owner of practically every online dating space in the country.

Match Group was founded in February 2009 after the holding company IAC decided to bundle all dating sites it owned. IAC's initial purchase of Match.com dates back to the 1990s.

Match.com founder Gary Kremen walked away from Match.com with just $50,000. AP Photo/Tim Tadder

Match Group was founded in February 2009 after the holding company IAC decided to bundle all dating sites it owned. IAC's initial purchase of Match.com dates back to the 1990s.

During the 2000s, IAC chairman Barry Diller turned Match.com into one of the most successful online dating companies in the US.

Jim Safka. Jason Smith/Getty Images

Barry Diller decided to form Match Group after breaking up IAC into five different companies in 2008.

Expedia chairman Barry Diller. Expedia

Diller acquired some of the hottest online dating sites in the years following his decision to splinter off Match Group.

Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The road to attaining what is essentially a monopoly on dating hasn't been smooth, and it began with the birth of Tinder.

Tinder Headquarters on the Sunset Strip on August 28, 2020 in West Hollywood, California. AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images

In January 2012, Hatch Labs, a startup "sandbox" launched by IAC to incubate mobile apps, hired entrepreneur Sean Rad as general manager. During a Hatch Labs hackathon that February, Rad, who had been considering creating a dating product, worked with developer Joe Muñoz to create the prototype for Tinder.

Tinder cofounder Sean Rad. Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Tinder/GLAAD

In January 2012, Hatch Labs, a startup "sandbox" launched by IAC to incubate mobile apps, hired entrepreneur Sean Rad as general manager. During a Hatch Labs hackathon that February, Rad, who had been considering creating a dating product, worked with developer Joe Muñoz to create the prototype for Tinder.

In 2014, Wolfe Herd, then Tinder's vice president of marketing, sued Tinder and IAC for sexual harassment and discrimination. Wolfe Herd alleged that Mateen, her former boyfriend, harassed her while she worked for the company.

Bennett Raglin/Getty

In 2014, Wolfe Herd, then Tinder's vice president of marketing, sued Tinder and IAC for sexual harassment and discrimination. Wolfe Herd alleged that Mateen, her former boyfriend, harassed her while she worked for the company.

By 2015, Rad was back at the helm of Tinder, just as Match Group went public.

Greg Blatt, left, chairman of Match Group, and Sam Yagan, CEO of Match Group and cofounder and CEO of OkCupid, celebrate Match Group's initial public offering at the NASDAQ stock exchange on November 20, 2015. Andrew Burton/Getty Images

In 2018, Rad and nine other Tinder employees sued IAC, claiming IAC purposely undervalued the startup. The lawsuit sought $2 billion in damages.

Rosette Pambakian, Tinder's former vice president of marketing and communications. Getty Images/Ben A. Pruchnie

Starting in 2017, Match Group set its sights on another dating upstart: Hinge, an app focused on finding long-term connections.

Hinge's tagline is "the app that's designed to be deleted." Associated Press

By December 2019, IAC announced it was spinning off its stake in Match Group. "We've long said IAC is the 'anti-conglomerate' - we're not empire builders," Barry Diller, IAC's chairman, said in a statement at the time.

IAC Chairman Barry Diller. Michael Seto/Business Insider

By December 2019, IAC announced it was spinning off its stake in Match Group. "We've long said IAC is the 'anti-conglomerate' - we're not empire builders," Barry Diller, IAC's chairman, said in a statement at the time.

Match Group CEO of 14 years, Mandy Ginsberg, stepped down a year later.

Jerod Harris/Getty Images

Meanwhile, Wolfe Herd had been building a company of her own: Bumble, a dating app aiming to create a comfortable and empowering online dating space for women.

Bumble

By the end of 2017, two years after launching, Bumble had amassed more than 22 million users. Match Group came calling.

Marla Aufmuth/WireImage

But the spurned acquisition offer was the beginning of a soured relationship between Match Group and Tinder. In 2018, the companies sued each other, launching a heated legal battle that lasted for over two years.

Whitney Wolfe Herd in 2018. AP Photo/Richard Drew

But the spurned acquisition offer was the beginning of a soured relationship between Match Group and Tinder. In 2018, the companies sued each other, launching a heated legal battle that lasted for over two years.

But Bumble has remained Match Group's biggest competitor and has become a multibillion-dollar behemoth in its own right.

Andreev and Wolfe Herd. Magic Lab

Now, as the pandemic continues to keep much of the world locked down, singles are flocking to dating apps, helping fuel the growth of both Bumble and Match Group's suite of apps.

Paul Zinken/picture alliance via Getty Images

Now, as the pandemic continues to keep much of the world locked down, singles are flocking to dating apps, helping fuel the growth of both Bumble and Match Group's suite of apps.

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How Tinder and Hinge owner Match Group grew to have the country's biggest monopoly on online dating - but let Bumble get away

Match Group was founded in February 2009 after the holding company IAC decided to bundle all dating sites it owned. IAC's initial purchase of Match.com dates back to the 1990s.

During the 2000s, IAC chairman Barry Diller turned Match.com into one of the most successful online dating companies in the US.

Barry Diller decided to form Match Group after breaking up IAC into five different companies in 2008.

Diller acquired some of the hottest online dating sites in the years following his decision to splinter off Match Group.

The road to attaining what is essentially a monopoly on dating hasn't been smooth, and it began with the birth of Tinder.

In 2014, Wolfe Herd, then Tinder's vice president of marketing, sued Tinder and IAC for sexual harassment and discrimination. Wolfe Herd alleged that Mateen, her former boyfriend, harassed her while she worked for the company.

By 2015, Rad was back at the helm of Tinder, just as Match Group went public.

In 2018, Rad and nine other Tinder employees sued IAC, claiming IAC purposely undervalued the startup. The lawsuit sought $2 billion in damages.

Starting in 2017, Match Group set its sights on another dating upstart: Hinge, an app focused on finding long-term connections.

By December 2019, IAC announced it was spinning off its stake in Match Group. "We've long said IAC is the 'anti-conglomerate' - we're not empire builders," Barry Diller, IAC's chairman, said in a statement at the time.

Match Group CEO of 14 years, Mandy Ginsberg, stepped down a year later.

Meanwhile, Wolfe Herd had been building a company of her own: Bumble, a dating app aiming to create a comfortable and empowering online dating space for women.

By the end of 2017, two years after launching, Bumble had amassed more than 22 million users. Match Group came calling.

But the spurned acquisition offer was the beginning of a soured relationship between Match Group and Tinder. In 2018, the companies sued each other, launching a heated legal battle that lasted for over two years.

But Bumble has remained Match Group's biggest competitor and has become a multibillion-dollar behemoth in its own right.

Now, as the pandemic continues to keep much of the world locked down, singles are flocking to dating apps, helping fuel the growth of both Bumble and Match Group's suite of apps.