Sean Rad, born on May 22, 1986, in Los Angeles, California, is an Iranian-American entrepreneur best known as the founder of Tinder, the revolutionary dating app that transformed online dating. His parents emigrated from Iran in the 1970s, and he grew up in a large family with 12 uncles and aunts and 42 first cousins.
Early life and education
Rad attended private school in Los Angeles and developed an early interest in technology and entrepreneurship. During high school, he founded a band and interned for an entertainment manager, but later decided that being an artist wasn’t for him. In 2004, at the age of 18, he enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC). That same year, he started his first company, Orgoo, a unified messaging and video communications platform. Leveraging a network of USC computer science students, Rad developed Orgoo’s technology. In 2006, he left USC to focus on his business ventures.
Entrepreneurial ventures
Before Tinder, Rad founded several companies that showcased his innovative spirit. In 2009, he established Ad.ly, a celebrity endorsement platform connecting celebrities with brands. The company raised $5 million in venture capital funding from investors like Greycroft Partners and GRP Partners’ Mark Suster.
In 2018, Rad co-founded AllVoices with Claire Schmidt. AllVoices is an app that allows employees to anonymously report harassment, ethics, compliance, and other workplace issues directly to a company’s board. The platform was developed in response to widespread complaints of sexual harassment in the technology and entertainment industries, providing a confidential channel for employees to voice concerns.
Founding Tinder
In January 2012, Rad joined the startup incubator Hatch Labs to build Cardify, a next-generation, app-based customer loyalty rewards program. However, during an internal 48-hour hackathon, he presented the idea for a double opt-in dating app called MatchBox, which later became Tinder. The concept won first prize in the hackathon, leading Rad and his team to officially launch Tinder in September 2012. Unlike previous dating apps, Tinder was designed for a mobile interface and utilized photo-focused profiles navigated with an intuitive swiping motion. Within two months, the app had facilitated over one million matches. By 2014, Tinder was processing more than one billion swipes per day, with the average user spending 90 minutes on the app. In 2015, it became the highest-grossing app in Apple’s App Store.
Leadership at Tinder
Rad served as Tinder’s CEO from 2012 until March 2015 and then again from August 2015 until December 2016. During a brief period in 2015, he was replaced by former eBay executive Christopher Payne but returned as CEO later that year. In December 2016, Rad stepped down as CEO but remained Tinder’s Chairman of the Board until late 2017. His tenure was marked by significant growth and the establishment of Tinder as a dominant force in the online dating industry.
Legal disputes
In 2018, Rad and other former Tinder executives and employees filed a $2 billion lawsuit against Tinder’s parent companies, IAC and Match Group, alleging that they had manipulated Tinder’s valuation to deny them billions of dollars in stock options. The legal battle was contentious, with IAC and Match Group filing a counter $250 million lawsuit against Rad, accusing him of recording sensitive business conversations without consent and copying proprietary company files to his personal devices. Rad argued that his contract permitted these actions. In December 2021, Match Group agreed to settle the lawsuit by paying $441 million to Rad and other Tinder founders and executives.
Philanthropy and personal life
Rad is a founding board member of Good Today, a non-profit organization that promotes daily support of various charitable causes. The platform allows users to make daily donations as small as 25 cents and offers company sponsorships for employees who donate through the app.
In 2018, Rad married his longtime partner, Lizzie Grover, in a ceremony at their Montecito home. The couple resides in Los Angeles, California, with their golden retriever, Minnie. They are avid art collectors and were recognized in Cultured Young Collectors 2020 for their collection, described as “a place for disruptors.” Rad also serves on the board of the Milken Community High School.
Awards and recognition
Rad’s contributions to the tech industry have been widely recognized. He was included in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2014 and was acknowledged by Fast Company as one of the Most Creative People in the business community. In May 2016, he received an honorary diploma from the University of Southern California and delivered the USC Marshall School of Business undergraduate commencement speech. In 2017, Rad was honored as a “30 Under 30” by the Jewish Journal, and in 2020, Forbes recognized him as one of the Top 10 Under 30 Founders of the decade.
