Sean Rad
Sean Rad (born May 22, 1986) is an American entrepreneur of Iranian-Jewish descent renowned for co-founding Tinder, the mobile dating app launched in 2012 that popularized swipe-right matching and scaled to become a dominant force in online dating.[1][2]
Raised in Los Angeles by parents who immigrated from Iran in the 1970s, Rad grew up in the Beverly Hills Persian community and dropped out of the University of Southern California after two years to launch early ventures like Orgoo, a mobile messaging service, and Adly, an adtech platform connecting brands with celebrities.[2][3]
At IAC-backed incubator Hatch Labs, he co-developed Tinder with Justin Mateen and Jonathan Badeen, serving as its first CEO and driving initial growth to one million user matches in under two months, earning awards including TechCrunch's best new startup of 2013.[2][4]
Rad's leadership propelled Tinder to a $3 billion valuation by 2017, though his exits as CEO—first in 2014 amid health issues, then briefly returning in 2015—were followed by a contentious departure in 2017 over disputes with parent company Match Group.[2]
Significant controversies include entanglement in a 2014 sexual harassment lawsuit filed by early executive Whitney Wolfe, which was settled out of court, and a $2 billion arbitration claim against IAC and Match Group alleging manipulation of Tinder's valuation to dilute founder equity.[2][5]
Post-Tinder, Rad has invested via his Rad Fund and critiqued portrayals of Tinder's origins that inflate others' roles among the core founders.[6]