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Instacart marketing chief Laura Jones and Zillow founder Spencer Rascoff will join Match Group’s board of directors, effective immediately. The appointments follow a period of “negotiations” that culminated in a data-sharing agreement with Elliott Management. Such contracts give investors like Elliott information about a company’s finances and operations that are not available to ordinary investors.
Elliott Management is considered one of the most active investors in the industry. In recent months, the company has successfully carried out board changes at telecommunications REIT Crown Castle and e-commerce platform Etsy.
Match Group shares are down 2% this year and are down 79% from their 2021 peak. The company faces issues retaining executives and changes in leadership and senior executives. Additionally, the number of paying users, a key metric for investors, has fallen for several quarters.
“Today, we are one of Match Group’s largest investors because we believe this is an opportunity to create significant value in the online dating space,” Elliott partner Marc Steinberg said in a press release.
The extent of Elliott’s role at Match Group and specific return plans were not immediately disclosed. But The Wall Street Journal reported in January that the venture capitalist’s net worth was as high as $1 billion.