Match.com Gets a New CEO

(onlinedatingmagazine.com - September 2, 2004) Match.com today announced that Jim Safka has been named chief executive officer (CEO) and will start in that position September 9. Mr. Safka has been working with the current CEO, Tim Sullivan, and the senior management team at Match.com to ensure a smooth transition. Tim Sullivan will be leaving Match.com effective September 8 and will stay within IAC to explore new business opportunities and initiatives.

"Match.com is an outstanding company with exciting prospects for the future," Mr. Safka said. "I'm looking forward to joining the team and leading the company to the next level of growth in online dating, one of the most powerful categories in e-commerce today."

IAC Chairman and CEO Barry Diller said: "Tim Sullivan joined Match.com when 'online dating' wasn't even in the vernacular. His great effort in establishing and building up the business is a great tribute to him as an executive, and I'm hopeful we'll be able to find a new venture for him where he can do exactly the same fine work as he has at Match.com."

"I also want to welcome Jim Safka to the Company," Mr. Diller continued. "'Matching' is a great category, and this appointment underscores our belief that Match.com is at the very beginning of its growth."

Mr. Sullivan joined Match.com in January 2001 as chief operating officer and was named CEO later that year. Under Mr. Sullivan's leadership, Match.com achieved recognition as the clear leader in the U.S. online dating market, while expanding globally into 29 local language dating markets. During this period, he grew the paid subscriber base for all IAC Personals brands from 189,500 in Q1 2001 to nearly one million in Q2 2004, while growing revenue from $29 million in 2000 to $185 million in 2003.

"I am honored to have worked with Match.com's dedicated and talented team of employees, and I am proud of the pioneering role Match.com has played in taking online dating mainstream," Mr. Sullivan said. "Match.com is a great company that I know will continue to flourish and to carry out its truly special mission. I'm looking forward to what's next for me within IAC."

About Jim Safka
Jim Safka comes to Match.com from AT&T Wireless, where he served as vice president and general manager of e-commerce. Under Mr. Safka's leadership at AT&T Wireless, the company sold more wireless plans through its web site than the other five national carriers combined and ranked number one in online customer service. Prior to joining AT&T Wireless in 2002, Mr. Safka spent five years at E*TRADE Financial Corporation, most recently as vice president of marketing, where he was instrumental in growing the customer base from 200,000 accounts to more than four million. Mr. Safka started his technology marketing career at Intuit as a Product Manager for Quicken Financial Planner and Quicken.com. Prior to Intuit, Mr. Safka held brand and product management positions at Alberto-Culver, Inc., Warner Bros. Inc., and Paramount Pictures. Mr. Safka holds a Masters in Business Administration from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Southern California. He will be relocating with his wife, Mandy, and two children to Dallas.

About Tim Sullivan
Mr. Sullivan joined Match.com in January 2001 as chief operating officer and was named CEO later that year. Under Mr. Sullivan's leadership, Match.com became the recognized leader in the online personals business. In addition, Mr. Sullivan oversaw Match.com's unrivaled product innovation and international expansion, as well as strategic alliances with MSN and AOL. As a result, Match.com substantially increased its membership base between 2001 and 2004.

Prior to joining Match.com, Mr. Sullivan served as vice president of e-commerce for Ticketmaster's predecessor, Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch, Inc. Before joining Ticketmaster, Sullivan spent seven years at The Walt Disney Company, where as vice president and managing director for Buena Vista Home Entertainment Asia Pacific, he was responsible for all Home Video distribution of Walt Disney company products in the Asia Pacific Region. Mr. Sullivan is a graduate of Harvard Business School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.