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Match Group, the Dallas company that controls much of the Internet dating scene (OkCupid, Hinge, Plenty of Fish), has named a new chief executive for its hottest property: Tinder.
Jim Lanzone, the former president and CEO of CBS Interactive and former chief digital officer of its parent company, CBS, will take the helm of the Los Angeles company, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Monday. He’ll start Aug. 3.
Lanzone left CBS at the end of 2019 as the company prepared to (re-)merge with onetime sibling Viacom. He replaces current Tinder CEO Elie Seidman, who will return to work “with early stage, venture-backed companies,” the Journal reports. Seidman occupied the post for two and a half years.
Lanzone has his work cut out for him. The spread of the novel coronavirus has all but shattered the ability for people—let alone singles—to meet each other, and the initial reaction to the pandemic slowed Tinder sign-ups, its parent company said in its May earnings report. But the prolonged nature of the pandemic—including extended stay-at-home orders—has led to fresh uses of the app by people hungry for (virtual) interaction.
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