Justin Mateen Net Worth

What is Justin Mateen's net worth?

Justin Mateen is an American entrepreneur who has a net worth of $400 million. Justin Mateen is best known as the co-founder and former Chief Marketing Officer of Tinder, the dating app that reshaped online romance. Born in Los Angeles, he studied at the University of Southern California, where he first met Sean Rad, his eventual Tinder co-founder. The two collaborated on early tech projects before joining IAC's startup incubator Hatch Labs in 2012, where Tinder was conceived. Mateen played a critical role in Tinder's explosive growth, using his marketing acumen and deep understanding of campus culture to position the app as a viral sensation among college students. His strategy of leveraging word-of-mouth promotion, exclusivity, and social networks helped Tinder scale to millions of users within its first two years.

Despite his success, Mateen's time at Tinder ended abruptly in 2014 after a public scandal. Following a high-profile sexual harassment lawsuit filed by fellow co-founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, Mateen resigned under pressure from IAC. The lawsuit was settled, and although it tarnished his reputation, it did not diminish the financial upside of his early ownership stake. Tinder's value soared, and when IAC's Match Group consolidated ownership in 2017 at a $3 billion valuation, Mateen's equity translated into a payout likely in the nine figures. He later joined Sean Rad and others in a 2018 lawsuit against IAC and Match Group, claiming Tinder had been deliberately undervalued. That case settled in 2021 for $441 million, a portion of which went to Mateen, further boosting his fortune. He has gone on to invest in a wide range of additional companies through his private investment fund, Jam. Some of his other investments include Home Chef, Lendup, Munchery, StyleSeat, Hyperloop One, Alto, Camelot.AI, Cargomatic, Daily Harvest, Ollie, and Zenefits.

Early Life

Justin Mateen was born in Beverly Hills, California, on March 31, 1986. He comes from a wealthy real estate family. Justin's father, Kamyar Mateen, runs Cannon Commercial Inc., which owns an extremely valuable portfolio of commercial, retail, and multi-home properties. In 2002, Kamyar paid $4.6 million for a home in Beverly Hills. Today, this home is worth around $13 million. Justin graduated from the USC Marshall School of Business in 2008.

Tinder

Tinder emerged from a startup incubator called Hatch Labs in 2012. It was founded as a joint venture with Interactive Corp (IAC). Tinder's founders are Sean Rad, Jonathan Badeen, Justin Mateen, Joe Munoz, Dinesh Moorjani, and Whitney Wolfe. The app was initially launched at the University of Southern California, targeting college students through word-of-mouth marketing at campus parties and Greek life events.

The app's innovative "swipe" mechanic, conceived by Badeen and developed by Munoz, revolutionized online dating by gamifying the experience. Users could swipe right to like potential matches and left to pass, with matches occurring only when both users swiped right on each other. This simple but addictive interface helped drive rapid adoption among young users.

By early 2013, Tinder had gained significant traction on college campuses and began expanding beyond its initial market. The app's growth was explosive, reaching one billion swipes per day by the end of 2013. The company operated under IAC/InterActiveCorp's Match Group division from its early days, with IAC having majority ownership of Hatch Labs.

In March 2014 IAC increased its majority stake in Tinder at a valuation that was estimated at $1 billion for the first time. A year later, Bank of America estimated the value of Tinder at $3 billion. By 2018 the company was generating over $800 million in annual revenue.

However, the company faced controversy in 2014 when co-founder Whitney Wolfe Herd left and filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Tinder. The case was dropped two weeks later with no admission of wrongdoing by either party, and Whitney went on to cofound dating app Bumble.

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In 2015, Sean Rad stepped down as CEO but returned to the position later that year. The same year, Tinder introduced its premium subscription service, Tinder Plus, adding features like unlimited likes and the ability to change location.

Match Group, which owns other dating platforms like Match.com and OkCupid, completed its acquisition of Tinder in July 2017. The deal valued Tinder at around $3 billion.

In 2018, Justin and another Tinder co-founder, Sean Rad, sued IAC for $2 billion, alleging that the company undervalued their options in previous financing rounds. They alleged that roughly 20 early employees who owned 20% of the company were bought out at a valuation of $3 billion when IAC supposedly knew the true valuation was closer to $5 billion. In December 2021, Match agreed to pay Sean Rad, Justin Matten, and Jonathan Badeen a combined settlement of $441 million.

Tinder has since grown into one of the world's most popular dating apps, with millions of users globally. It continues to be a significant revenue generator for Match Group through its premium subscription tiers and in-app purchases.

Tinder Earnings

Justin Mateen's fortune stems primarily from his equity stake in Tinder. From the outset, Tinder operated under IAC's umbrella, with the founders and early employees collectively owning about 20% of the company. In 2017, Match Group consolidated full ownership of Tinder at a $3 billion valuation, buying out that 20% stake for roughly $600 million. Mateen's portion translated into a nine-figure payout, likely well over $100 million. Believing Tinder was worth far more, he later joined Sean Rad, Jonathan Badeen, and others in a lawsuit against IAC and Match Group, alleging the company had deliberately undervalued Tinder to minimize their compensation. The case, which initially sought $2 billion in damages, was settled in December 2021 for $441 million, with Mateen receiving a share as one of ten plaintiffs. Combined with his initial equity cash-out, these payouts put Mateen's lifetime Tinder earnings comfortably in the hundreds of millions

Real Estate

In February 2017, Justin paid $15 million for a mansion in LA's Holmby Hills neighborhood. In July 2020, Justin paid $18 million for Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli's Bel-Air home. Loughlin and Giannulli had been seeking more than $35 million for the home at one point. They bought the property in 2015 for $14 million and proceeded to spend untold millions on upgrades.

Justin owns an extensive commercial real estate portfolio consisting of industrial, multifamily, hotel, and retail properties spanning millions of square feet in several different states. In 2024 he became the lead investor in the $211 million purchase of the Wilshire Rodeo Plaza, a 300k sq foot Class A office and retail complex located at the corner of Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard in the posh Los Angeles suburb of Beverly Hills.

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