Life and rise of Sean Rad, founder and former CEO of Tinder

Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Tinder/GLAAD

Tinder founder Sean Rad has had a tumultuous few years. 

When Tinder launched in 2012, it was a near-instant success. The dating app made over a million matches in less than two months, became a sensation on college campuses, and gained recognition from tech’s elite. Six years after launch, the company is valued around $3 billion and is one of the highest-grossing apps in the App Store.

But Tinder also had its share of troubles. One of its cofounders, Whitney Wolfe, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against another cofounder, Justin Mateen. Rad stepped down from his post as CEO, only to return to the helm six months later. Eventually, he switched stepped aside as CEO for good to become Tinder’s chairman. 

Now, Rad and a group of nine other former and current Tinder employees are suing InterActiveCorp and Match Group, the owners of Tinder, for $2 billion. 

Here’s how Rad got his start, helped build Tinder into a billion-dollar startup, and went to war with IAC. 

Maya Kosoff contributed to an earlier version of this story.