Noel Biderman

Noel Biderman (born 1971)^[1] is a Canadian Internet entrepreneur, former sports agent, and business marketing and operations specialists from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.^[2] Biderman has occupied roles as coroporate 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 extramarital affair website Ashley Madison.^[3]

Education

Growing up in Toronto, Biderman 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 is a former lawyer and sports agent.^[4]

Noel began his career as a sports agent in 1997 at Interperformances Inc., eventually becoming director of all Canadian operations.^[2] Interperformances Inc. is one of the largest and most dynamic sports agencies in the world. Interperformances is a full-service agency specializing in the representation of professional athletes throughout the world.^[5]

In 2000 Noel began a position at Homestores Inc. (now, Move.Inc.), eventually becoming General Manager of Canadian Operations (Nasdaq: MOVE).^[2] Move, Inc, is a real estate web site, which operates real estate web sites for consumers and real estate professionals. The Move Network of websites captures more than 30 million monthly visitors.

In December 2005 began a position at Jump TV (TSX: JUMP) and was named Head of Product Development and Marketing. JumpTV Inc. is a Canadian company, the country’s largest internet television carrier.^[2]

Biderman became CEO of Avid Life Media and Ashley Madison in 2007.^[6] Ashley Madison, or more accurately The Ashley Madison Agency, was founded in 2002 by Darren Morgenstern.^[6] The company slogan is "Life is short. Have an affair."^[7]

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." ^[8] 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."^[7] 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.^[11] Biderman's emails were also released.^[12] 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.^[13]

Media appearances

Biderman has appeared on The Tyra Banks Show,^[14] The View,^[15] Larry King Live,^[16] GluckRadio^[17] 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.^[18]

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.^[19] 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."^[20]

Personal life

Noel Biderman is a native of Toronto, Canada, and holds a law degree from York University's Osgoode Hall Law School.^[21] Biderman was born Jewish and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His grandparents were Holocaust survivors and he has stated that he looks forward to his son's bar mitzvah. However, as an adult he is not particularly Jewish and believes that The Ten Commandments are outdated.^[22] He is the author of a book titled Cheaters Prosper: How Infidelity Will Save the Modern Marriage.^[23]

Always an avid sports lover, Noel has played basketball, volleyball, football, tennis and hockey throughout the majority of his life. He also collects ancient coins and first-edition novels.^[2]

Noel married Amanda Biderman in 2003, and the couple has two children.^[24][25] Amanda is originally from South Africa, and has a background in marketing.^[26] Prior to the hack, Biderman mentioned he is a happily married father of two and does not himself cheat.^[4] It has since been revealed, through e-mails leaked during the hack, that Biderman carried on several extramarital affairs over the course of his marriage.^[27][28]

Community Involvement

Noel Biderman is active in his Toronto community. Currently Noel is a Coach with the Metro Toronto Wildcats (MTW) Football program^[29] as well as with the North Toronto Huskies Basketball program.

References