How One Company Owns Your Entire Dating Life

Whether you're Mormon, a conservative, or a senior citizen, Match Group has a website to help you find a mate

Singles are seen on a date as they participate in Speed Dating at Potion in New York.
Photographer: Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg

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By Alex Barinka

June 26, 2015 at 12:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

If you’ve ever tried to find the love of your life online, chances are a 73-year-old billionaire played a hand in helping you meet your match. From dating sites for anyone from pet lovers to Mormons, Republicans to Italians, and divorcées to senior citizens, Barry Diller has bought or incubated many brands under his Internet conglomerate, IAC/InterActiveCorp. Now the company is selling a stake in its Match.com division, giving public investors a chance to bet on the business of love.

IAC’s Match Group, which also owns OKCupid and dating app Tinder, plans to to sell as much as 20 percent of its common stock this year. The sale could fetch $600 million to $1.2 billion if 10 percent to 20 percent of the business is sold to the public, according to Cowen and Co., valuing the division at $6 billion or more.