Noel Biderman

Noel Biderman (born 1971)[1] is a Canadian internet entrepreneur and business marketing specialist.[2] Biderman has occupied roles as corporate President, CEO, COO and International Lead for businesses that have operated in 58 different countries around the globe.[2] Biderman is the former CEO of Avid Life Media and was the Chief Executive of parent company Ashley Madison.[3]

Noel Biderman
Born1971
EducationUniversity of California
Osgoode Hall Law School
OccupationInternet entrepreneur
Known forCEO of Ashley Madison

Early life and education

Noel Biderman is a native of Toronto, Ontario.[4] He was born Jewish and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Growing up in Toronto, he attended the York Mills Collegiate Institute in 1986, the University of California (economics) in 1989, and in 1996 graduated from York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School.[2]

Career

Biderman, a former lawyer and sports agent,[5] began his career in 1997 at Interperformances Inc., eventually becoming director of Canadian operations.

In 2000, Biderman began a position at Homestores Inc.(now, Move.Inc.), eventually becoming General Manager of Canadian Operations.

In December 2005, Biderman began a position at Jump TV and was named Head of Product Development and Marketing.

Biderman became CEO of Avid Life Media and Ashley Madison in 2007.[6]

Responding to critics, Biderman says that Ashley Madison does not promote infidelity, "We're just a platform. No website or 30-second ad is going to convince anyone to cheat. People cheat because their lives aren't working for them." [7] He has said that he writes the commercials for his company (which have featured two attractive people in the throes of passion, and then the sign: "This couple is married...but not to each other"), which the LA Times called "hilarious."[1] Biderman marketed Ashley Madison as having a focus on married women, instead of married men. "I was very confident that men would gravitate towards a service to conduct these otherwise anonymous affairs. They were seemingly doing it already," Biderman told BusinessWeek. "I was much less confident that women would behave that way."[8] Biderman's concern was confirmed in the data breach of 2015 which revealed that less than 1% of the female users were ever active on the site, the 5 million accounts held by women "show so little activity that they might as well not be there".[9][10]

In the summer of 2015, the Ashley Madison website was hacked and sensitive information of millions users was released publicly. Biderman was accused by the hackers of failing to delete accounts from the website even after customers paid to have accounts removed. Biderman's emails were also released.[11] In the wake of the hack, on August 28, 2015 the Ashley Madison website announced in an unattributed statement that Noel Biderman's tenure as chief executive officer of Avid Life Media Inc. ended.[12]

Media appearances

Biderman has appeared on The Tyra Banks Show,[13] The View,[14] Larry King Live,[15] GluckRadio[16] and Rogers TV's Daytime York Region. Biderman also served as a judge for the Miss Tiger Woods mistress pageant on The Howard Stern Show, which was sponsored by Biderman's Ashley Madison.[17]

In an interview with comedian Amy Schumer, Biderman states that wives gaining weight "is a legitimate reason" for husbands to seek sex outside their marriages.[18] He told Australia's "A Current Affair" program that if he found out that his own wife was accessing his cheater's site, "I would be devastated."[19]

Personal life

Although from a Jewish family, Biderman is not particularly religious.[20] He is the author of a book titled Cheaters Prosper: How Infidelity Will Save the Modern Marriage.[21]

Biderman has played basketball, volleyball, football, tennis and hockey throughout the majority of his life. He also collects ancient coins and first-edition novels.[2]

Biderman married Amanda Biderman in 2003, and the couple have two children.[22][23] Amanda is originally from South Africa, and has a background in marketing.[24] Prior to the hack, Biderman mentioned he is a happily married father of two and does not himself cheat.[5] It has been alleged, through e-mails leaked during the hack, that Biderman carried on several extramarital affairs over the course of his marriage.[25][26]

References
  1. Daum, Meghan (2009-01-10). "Ashley Madison's secret success - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  2. "Noel Biderman Biography - NoelBiderman.com". NoelBiderman.com. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
  3. "Ashley Madison founder steps down". BBC News. 28 August 2015.
  4. McCarthy, Shawn (2015-10-14). "News - News, commentary and analysis from The Globe and Mail's politics desk". Theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  5. "Cheats' site a popular affair - Connect - NZ Herald News". Nzherald.co.nz. 2010-04-18. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  6. "Hollywood Courts Toronto-based Ashley Madison". Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  7. Caplan, Jeremy (2009-06-29). "Cheating 2.0: New AshleyMadison Apps Make Adultery Even Easier". TIME. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  8. Sheelah Kolhatkar (February 10, 2011). "Cheating, Incorporated". Businessweek. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  9. Newitz, Annalee (27 August 2015). "The Fembots of Ashley Madison". Gizmodo. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  10. Reed, Brad (27 August 2015). "The most hilarious revelation about the Ashley Madison hack yet". Yahoo! Tech. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  11. "Ashley Madison: Boss's emails examined after leak - BBC News". Bbc.com. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
  12. York, Sam Thielman in New. "Ashley Madison CEO Noel Biderman resigns after third leak of emails". the Guardian. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  13. "The Tyra Banks Show — Ashley Madison". YouTube. 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  14. "The View Hot Topics — Ashley Madison". YouTube. 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  15. "CNN.com — Transcripts". Transcripts.cnn.com. 2008-03-17. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  16. "Episode 25: Where To Go For an Affair". Podomatic. 2012-12-07. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  17. Wisniewski, Angela. "Ashley Madison | Features". Real Detroit Weekly. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  18. Stahler, Kelsea. "Amy Interviews AshleyMadison Creator Noel Biderman On 'Inside Amy Schumer' & Completely Takes Him Down With Subtlety". Bustle. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  19. Elis, Niv (22 May 2014). "Cheating on your spouse in Israel just got easier". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  20. Angel, Ilana (March 30, 2011). "Ashley Madison & Noel Biderman: Will a Rabbi Take Them On?". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  21. "Noel Biderman, Ashley Madison Founder, Thinks Infidelity Will Save Marriages". Mic. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  22. "Ashley Madison founder Noel Biderman is a happily married family man". Smh.com.au. 2015-11-19. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  23. "Amanda Biderman - NoelBiderman.com". NoelBiderman.com. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
  24. "Ashley Madison founder Noel Biderman is a happily married family man". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
  25. Chan, Melissa. "Leaked emails show Ashley Madison CEO Noel Biderman had multiple affairs: report". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  26. Zetter, Kim (2015-08-28). "Ashley Madison CEO Resigns in Wake of Hack, News of Affairs". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
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