Grindr board chair Lu resigns amid take-private proposal

NEW YORK - Grindr Inc. (NYSE:GRND) announced Thursday that James Lu has stepped down from the company’s Board of Directors to focus on personal business priorities, including his involvement in a recent take-private proposal for the dating app company. The company, with a current market capitalization of $2.48 billion, has seen its stock price decline by 26% year-to-date.

The resignation comes days after Lu and fellow shareholder Ray Zage submitted an unsolicited proposal on October 31 to acquire Grindr for $18.00 per share in cash, representing a 36% premium to the current share price of $13.19. According to InvestingPro data, this offer comes as the stock trades near its 52-week low of $11.73, having fallen from its high of $25.13. A special committee of the board is currently evaluating this offer with independent advisors.

In connection with Lu’s departure, the board has appointed J. Michael Gearon, Jr. as Lead Independent Director. Gearon has served on Grindr’s board since November 2022.

Lu had served as Chairperson for more than five years, dating back to before the acquisition of Grindr in 2020. In his resignation letter, Lu stated that his decision would allow him to "focus on pursuing the Proposal with the Board’s Special Committee" while emphasizing that he remains "optimistic about Grindr’s long-term prospects."

"James’s industry experience, technology expertise, and leadership helped enable Grindr to flourish as a product and a company in the years since divestiture," said George Arison, Grindr’s CEO, in a statement included in the press release.

The LGBTQ+ dating app company, which went public via a SPAC merger in 2022, reports having more than 15 million average monthly active users across 190+ countries and territories.

The company indicated that its board continues to actively evaluate new candidates for board membership as part of an ongoing planning process. Grindr maintains a strong current ratio of 2.48, suggesting solid short-term financial stability as it navigates these governance changes. For deeper insights into Grindr’s financial metrics and comprehensive analysis, investors can access the Pro Research Report available for this and 1,400+ other US equities through InvestingPro.

In other recent news, Grindr Inc. has confirmed receiving a take-private proposal valued at $18 per share from major shareholders Ray Zage and James Lu. This proposal, which is non-binding, values the company at approximately $3.7 billion and includes plans for $1 billion in debt financing and $100 million in new equity. Zage and Lu, along with their affiliated entities, currently own more than 60% of Grindr’s outstanding common stock and aim to acquire the remaining shares they do not already own. The offer represents a 51% premium over Grindr’s stock price as of October 10, 2025. Citizens analyst research has noted the details of this offer, which seeks to take the LGBTQ+ dating app private. The proposal was officially submitted through a Schedule 13D filing on October 24.

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