There was a time, sometime around 2014, when Tinder was cool and full of potential.
The Match Group (MTCH) dating app that launched out of West Hollywood, Calif., quickly grew into the leading one in the U.S. in both revenue and usage.
The concept of swiping apps in which one could get a selection of potential prospects based on geolocation and say yes or no based on only a few photos and a brief bio truly started to take off after Tinder's arrival on the scene.
Other swiping apps like Bumble (BMBL), Hinge and The League followed Tinder's release in 2012.
Why Is Match Group Stock So Down?
But while the larger Match Group brought in a record $1.6 billion in revenue in 2021, things have been significantly less rosy for the company in 2022 in large part due to its Tinder troubles.
Match Group also owns dating platforms like OKCupid, Match.com and Hinge.
On Tuesday, the public company reported that second-quarter revenue fell below expectations at $795 million. While still a 12% increase compared to the same quarter last year, Match Group CEO Bernard Kim said that the company had "disappointing execution on several optimizations and new product initiatives."
"We are not seeing a similar surge of activity in 2022," Match Group told investors.
But the bigger shock to Match Group stock came from the announcement that Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg would be leaving after taking over from Jim Lanzone as its first female CEO last September.
While the move is being presented as a management reshuffle, the company stayed mum on any more specific reasons for Nyborg's departure.
By close on Wednesday, Match Group stock was down 17.56% at $63.24%.
Why Do Execs Keep Leaving Tinder?
When Nyborg came to Tinder in 2021, many analysts expected her to bring some change to the brand — a 2014 sexual harassment filed and later settled by former co-founder Whitney Wolfe, the app has struggled to shake off its reputation as an app propagating superficiality and sexism.
While much ink was spilled about how Nyborg wanted to make Tinder more "welcoming for women," something clearly went wrong along the way as Nyborg left after less than a year on the job.
When Match announced Nyborg's hiring, then Match CEO Shar Dubey described her as "relentlessly focused on accelerating growth and developing experiences based on what our members — particularly women — are looking for."
Along with her departure, Tinder announced a number of management changes both at Tinder and the wider Match Group — from making Match Group Chief Strategy Officer Faye Iosotaluno Tinder's COO to making OkCupid Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Hobley CMO at Tinder, TechCrunch first reported.
Mark van Ryswyk is also coming to Tinder as the new chief technology officer after years at video game companies like Glu Mobile and Electronic Arts.
The executive musical chairs are hardly out of order for either Tinder or Match Group — the former has had six chief executives since launching in 2012.
When it comes to Match Group, Dubey herself stepped down as chief executive in May 2022 but still works in an advisory role.
"Ms. Dubey's resignation was not a result of any disagreements with Match Group on any matter relating to its operations, policies or practices," the company said at the time.
