IAC/InterActiveCorp. and Match Group Inc. are being accused of covering up sexual misconduct allegations against a former chief executive officer as part of a broader scheme to manipulate the valuation of dating app Tinder in 2017, according to new motions filed in New York Supreme Court.
Lawyers say Tinder’s parents, IAC and Match at the time, are concealing documents relevant to an ongoing $2 billion lawsuit regarding the company’s valuation. Sean Rad, the co-founder and former CEO of the popular dating app, and other early employees claim in the lawsuit that IAC cheated them by purposefully suppressing Tinder’s valuation. That meant their shares were worth less, they argued, and that IAC didn’t have to pay them as much when they decided to cash out. The three-year-old case is set to go to trial in November. Match, which owns Tinder, was spun out of IAC last year.
