Match 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. 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.
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.
Best of luck to the both of them.
Link
