Adultery website CEO steps down after reported affairs

  • Los Angeles Times
  • Friday, August 28, 2015 2:55pm
  • Business

The chief executive of dating website Ashley Madison is resigning, parent company Avid Life Media Inc. said Friday, after a hack that revealed millions of user names meant to be kept secret.

Noel Biderman founded the site in 2002 to make it easier for married people to find other married people to have affairs with.

In regular media appearances, Biderman, who is married himself, has sworn that he would never cheat or use the site. But the hack, reported by Buzzfeed, uncovered emails suggesting that he was conducting multiple affairs.

Avid Life Media, which acquired Ashley Madison in 2007, said Biderman’s exit is by “mutual agreement.”

Ashley Madison is still up and running, even as the website, which claims more than 37 million members, says it is clamping down on data security.

“We are actively adjusting to the attack on our business and members’ privacy by criminals,” Avid Life said. The senior management team will lead the company until a new CEO is named.

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