(L-R) Gary Swidler, chief financial officer of Match Group; Greg Blatt, chairman of Match Group; Sam Yagan, CEO of Match Group and co-founder and CEO of OkCupid; and Nelson Griggs, vp of Nasdaq, pose for a photograph in Times Square after celebrating Match Group’s initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange in Recent York City on Nov. 20, 2015.
Andrew Burton | Getty Images
Shares of Tinder owner Match jumped as much as 12% during Tuesday morning trading after The Wall Street Journal reported that Elliott Management, the activist investing firm behind campaigns at Salesforce and Pinterest, had built a roughly $1 billion stake in the web dating company.
The stock pared back gains significantly, closing up 3%.
The corporate also owns Match.com and a number of other online dating platforms. It has struggled in recent quarters after explosive growth within the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic. The corporate had a market cap of $10 billion on the close Monday, but that pales as compared to its greater than $45 billion market cap in 2021.
Elliott is predicted to have interaction with Match management, the Journal reported citing people conversant in the matter, nevertheless it was not clear if that engagement would come with nominating its own directors.
Some Wall Street analysts remain bullish on Match. In December, the stock was named a top pick at JPMorgan, which cited a return to double-digit percentage growth in Tinder amongst other things. But the corporate reported a continued tumble in so-called Tinder payers in November when it reported third-quarter earnings. Its fourth-quarter revenue outlook also missed expectations.
It has also seen tumult within the corner office. The corporate has had seven CEOs since 2012. That turnover rate is markedly higher than the average CEO tenure of seven years.
A Match spokesperson declined to comment on Elliott but said Match “commonly engages with investors, and can proceed to work to create great experiences for our users and value for our shareholders.”
Elliott has had great success in its campaigns. Apart from Salesforce and Pinterest, the investor has or is engaged with Crown Castle, where it successfully pushed out the wireless infrastructure company’s CEO, and at Phillips 66, where it plans to hunt two board seats, CNBC previously reported.
Jesse Cohn, the Elliott managing partner who has led a lot of its recent engagements, has held board seats at Citrix, eBay and Twitter.
A spokesperson for Elliott Management was not immediately available for comment.
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