Match appoints two board directors after talks with activist investor Elliott Management
Tinder-owner Match Group has appointed two new members to its board of directors and signed an agreement with Elliott Management, the company announced on Monday. Chief marketing officer at Instacart Laura Jones, and Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff, will be joining the board, effective immediately.
Match said in a press release that the appointments followed a “a constructive dialogue” with the activist investor, as the two companies have entered in an “information-sharing” agreement. Today’s announcement comes a few months after The Wall Street Journal reported that Elliott has built a roughly $1 billion stake in the company.
The report indicated that Elliott was interested in discussing ways for Match to turn its performance around, as the company faces a decline in paying users amid economic uncertainty.
“We are one of the largest investors of Match Group today because we believe in its opportunity for significant value creation as the global leader in online dating,” Marc Steinberg, partner at Elliott, said in a press release. “We appreciate the collaboration with management and the Board over the past several months, and we are confident that Laura Jones and Spencer Rascoff are strong additions to the Board. We believe their unique skills and perspectives will help support the Company through its next phase of growth.”
Elliott has formed a reputation for building stakes in tech companies and forcing changes. The activist investor’s push for change at the dating firm follows board shakeups at Crown Castle and Etsy.
In Match’s fourth quarter for 2023, the company’s number of total paid users decreased 5% year over year to 15.2 million. The company’s growth has slowed from the peaks it reached during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Match has seen a 79% stock decline from its 2021 peak.
Match is the parent company of several popular dating apps, including Tinder, Hinge, Match.com, Meetic, OkCupid, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, OurTime and more.
