Business

Four months after public ouster, Tinder founder is still CEO

For a lame duck, Tinder chief Sean Rad sure has staying power.

Nearly four months after his very public ouster from the mobile matchmaking app, the Tinder co-founder still sits in the IAC-controlled company’s chief executive seat, the company said Wednesday.

Rad was ousted as CEO in October after a series of “Animal House”-like episodes — including calling his boss Barry Diller a d*ck and allegedly fostering a workplace environment that resulted in a sexual harassment lawsuit — but was allowed to stay on until a replacement was chosen.

Sam Yagan, who runs the Match Group for IAC/InterActiveCorp, Tinder’s parent, told Rad he was losing his CEO title just as he was about to take the stage at a Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit, the magazine reported.

As of Wednesday, however, a spokeswoman reported from Tinder’s Los Angeles headquarters that Rad still has the CEO title. She declined to elaborate.

Rad also confirms the status quo in his LinkedIn and Twitter accounts, laying claim in both to being Tinder’s “founder & CEO.”

IAC declined to comment.

The hope with IAC and Match Group brass is to bring in an “Eric Schmidt-like person” — a well-known reference to Google’s 20-something co-founders’ embracing adult supervision on bringing the then 40-something Schmidt into the company as CEO in 2001.

The leadership of Rad, 28, apparently fell short of providing appropriate supervision.

In addition to Rad’s crude characterization of Diller, the CEO allegedly used Diller’s initials to draw a picture of a man’s genitalia.

The allegation of the picture was contained in the sexual harassment lawsuit.

And though the suit was settled in September, Rad’s reputation — and fate — apparently has already been sealed.