The Match Group Distances Itself From Sean Rad Interview Ahead Of IPO
Tomorrow, The Match Group is set to launch its long-awaited IPO.
The company, which is spinning off from IAC, is being valued at $4.2bn, and is looking to raise $400m.
But last night, the company filed a last-minute submission to the SEC, distancing itself from an interview with Tinder CEO Sean Rad in the Evening Standard.
In the interview, Rad makes a series of PR gaffes, such as confusing sodomy with saiposexual, and saying that a supermodel was “begging” him for sex.
At one point, Tinder’s VP of communications, Rosette Pambakian, whose glances are described as “well-aimed grenades” says: “That’s it! We’re going to be fired”.
He also touches on the controversial Vanity Fair article released earlier this year, saying he is still “upset” about the article, and that he has “done his own “background research” on the writer Nancy Jo Sales, “and there’s some stuff about her as an individual that will make you think differently.” He won’t elaborate on the matter.”
However it is neither of these comments which The Match Group has distanced itself from, but rather figures which were contained in the article about the number of Tinder users.
In the filing with the SEC, The Match Group said the article was “not approved or condoned by” the company.
The filing reads: “The article was not approved or condoned by, and the content of the article was not reviewed by, the Company or any of its affiliates. Mr Rad is not a director or executive officer of the Company and was not authorised to make statements on behalf of the Company for purposes of the article.
“The article noted that ‘Analysts believe the [Tinder] app, which launched in 2012, has around 80 million users worldwide and records 1.8 billion ‘swipes’ a day.’ While these statements were not made by Mr Rad, the Company notes that they are inaccurate and directs readers to the Preliminary Prospectus, which states that for the month of September 2015, Tinder had approximately 9.6 million daily active users, with Tinder users “swiping” through an average of more than 1.4 billion user profiles each day.”
Read the filing here.
