Noel Biderman, formerly CEO of Ashley Madison parent company Avid Life Media, is stepping down. Avid Life Media released the news in a short statement this morning. “This change is in the best interest of the company and allows us to continue to provide support to our members and dedicated employees,” reads the statement. “We are steadfast in our commitment to our customer base.” Until a new CEO is appointed, Avid Life Media will be run by “the existing senior management team.”
Ashley Madison parent company CEO stepping down
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
The news comes slightly over a week after hackers posted information from tens of millions of profiles on Ashley Madison, which is aimed at men and women looking for affairs. While damaging in their own right, the leaks indicated bigger problems with the site, particularly that Ashley Madison had charged users for a “full delete” option while keeping their data on file. Internal messages leaked along with the profile data also suggested that Biderman and Avid Life Media’s CTO had considered hacking the competition themselves.
Avid Life Media previously offered a bounty for information leading to the arrest of the hackers, who remain unidentified. In today’s statement, it says it is “adjusting” to the hack’s damage. “We are actively adjusting to the attack on our business and members’ privacy by criminals,” it says. “We will continue to provide access to our unique platforms for our worldwide members. We are actively cooperating with international law enforcement in an effort to bring those responsible for the theft of proprietary member and business information to justice.”
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