United States

A group of conservative Catholics based in Colorado spent millions to buy tracking data from dating apps to identify gay priests, and then shared the information with regional Bishops.

The Washington Post, which broke the story, noted that the purchasing and use of the data is legal, and is “emblematic of a new surveillance frontier in which private individuals can potentially track other Americans’ locations and activities using commercially available information.”

The Post heard audio recordings of executive members discussing the organization’s mission and this particular project. Jayd Henricks, the group’s president, did not respond to questions from the Post, but instead posted an article on the website First Things saying he was proud to be part of the group, and that the purpose was to “help the Church be holy…” He also wrote that the group has conducted other research, but did not provide details.

A group of class action lawsuits have been filed in the U. S. District Court on behalf of investors who purchased shares of Match Group stock between November 3, 2021 and January 31, 2023. The lawsuits allege that the company misled investors as to financial expectations and new product executions that Match Group was claiming to initiate.

According to law firm Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the district of Delaware and alleges “violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.”

According to the press release from Kaskela Law, LLC, throughout the dates named in the lawsuit, Match Group and its executive officers “falsely represented to investors” that Tinder was moving forward with critical product initiatives to drive growth for the company in 2022 and going forward. In addition to this, other lawsuits have been filed on behalf of investors with Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, and Bernstein Liebhard LLP, among others.

Dating app Grindr closes out 2022 on a high note, reporting a 34 percent increase in year-over-year earnings to $195 million, showing a positive outlook for the coming year to investors since the app went public.

According to Fast Company, monthly average users rose to about 12 million, up from 11 million at the same time last year. Paying users also grew from 703,000 to 873,000 over the last year.

This was the company’s first earnings report as a public company, and with the impressive numbers, shares more than doubled throughout the trading day, according to Fast Company. The article was quick to point out that the dating app industry in general is still volatile despite earnings, as shown by Bumble’s fluctuating share price and secondary stock offering, as well as the recent Match Group dip. Since Grindr’s report came out, the company’s stock has gone down.

Dating app company Bumble Inc announced a secondary stock offering by majority stockholders Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble’s founder and CEO, and Blackstone. The price set for the secondary offering is at $22.80.

The price of Bumble stock fell 7 percent after this announcement, and after news that the previously announced 12.5 million secondary shares the company was originally going to sell went up to 13.75 million shares. Blackstone offloaded about $313 million in their stake in Bumble at the $22.80 share price, below the previous day’s closing price of $24.54. Another $47 million in stock “has been earmarked for over-allocation purposes,” according to Investing.com.

Blackstone offloaded the majority of shares, with Wolfe Herd cashing out just under $2 million in her shares of the company.

Image: Chispa

Chispa, the dating app for Latine singles, has announced the launch of its new Advocacy Council, created to highlight important issues affecting its diverse community.

The company announced the move in a press release, saying that the Council will also be developing “actionable programs to make a positive impact in the community beyond dating.” Chispa is seeking to build a trusted community and to be a “passionate advocate for the wellness and advancement of all Latines,” according to the release.

The Advocacy Council will meet regularly to discuss important issues facing the community, and to help create initiatives around mental health, finances, education, immigration, equality, politics, and other topics.

Bumble surprised investors and analysts with its latest earnings report, which showed better-than-expected revenue in the last quarter of 2022. Shares of the company’s stock rose about 2 percent as a result.

According to Seeking Alpha, Wall Street analysts had expected fourth quarter revenue to reach only $235.9 million, but the company reported revenue of $241.6 million, up from $207 million in the same quarter the previous year.

Bumble also reported 3.4 million paying users during the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to 3 million in the same quarter of 2021. Total average revenue per paying user was about $23.01 for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to 22.68 the year before.