Last year, we shared the news that Chinese company Beijing Kunlun Tech was going to buy all the stakes in Grindr.
Now, it seems that Joel Simkhai, the founder and former CEO of Grindr has decided to step down from his position.
“We have achieved our success because of the strength and global reach of our community,” Simkhai said. “I look forward to Grindr and Kunlun’s continued commitment to building tolerance, equality, and respect around the world.”
Kunlun Group Limited is the specific company that bought out Grindr, which is a subsection of the larger Chinese video game company Beijing Kunlun Tech.
The company first had bought out 62% of Grindr for $93 million in January of last year, and then announced they wanted to buy the rest of the company in May.
Now that Simkhai has stepped down, Yahui Zhou, the current chair of the board for Grindr, will work as the interim CEO until a more permanent solution is found.
In a statement, Zhou said, “Looking forward, we are extremely excited about the excellent work Grindr is doing in becoming a leading global technology company, serving and supporting our users no matter where they are in the world.”
For those concerned of the anti-gay Chinese government getting involved, there is less to worry about than you’d expect. We say this primarily because of the success of the Blued app.
Blued is the most used gay app in the world and offers several features besides a grid to find hookups. It provides video chat and streaming, blog space, articles, and connections to several community outreach programs/charities.
Most importantly, Blued creator Geng Le states that the Chinese government trusts his company and app.
While having a new company in charge may bring worries of policy change, it seems that at least the government shouldn't get involved. That is, as long as Grindr follows the same path of making money.
