Posted on 10/13/2025 3:00:16 PM PDT by DFG
Doug Lebda, the founder and chief executive of LendingTree, died unexpectedly in an all-terrain vehicle accident over the weekend, the company announced Monday. He was 55.
The online lending marketplace said in a statement that Lebda’s death occurred Sunday and described him as a “visionary leader whose relentless drive, innovation and passion transformed the financial services landscape, touching the lives of millions of consumers.”
The Charlotte-based company’s board appointed president and chief operating officer Scott Peyree as president and CEO, effective immediately, and named Steve Ozonian, a longtime director, as chairman of the board.
“The news of losing Doug was devastating,” Peyree said.
“But one of the most immediate impacts of his legacy is the strong management team he put in place at LendingTree. I look forward to leading our team and continuing our shared vision with Doug into the future.”
LendingTree’s shares fell about 9% — from nearly $61 a share to roughly $56.91 — on Monday following the announcement, extending a 10% slide over the past week.
Trading in the stock was briefly halted pending news of Lebda’s death. The shares have traded between $33.50 and $77.35 over the past 52 weeks.
Lebda founded LendingTree in 1996 after struggling to obtain a mortgage and envisioning a digital marketplace where banks could compete to offer borrowers the best terms.
The company launched online in 1998, went public on the Nasdaq in 2000 under the ticker symbol TREE, and grew into one of the country’s largest financial comparison platforms.
Over nearly three decades, Lebda expanded LendingTree’s offerings beyond mortgages to include credit cards, auto loans, insurance, and small-business financing.
The company now partners with more than 500 lenders nationwide.
“The board will work closely with Scott and the leadership team to honor Doug’s vision,” Ozonian said in the company’s statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
No mention of any details of the ATV accident.
If you’re rich (or famous), your death is news.
Wow. I just flew him and his family to Pittsburgh. Very nice folks.
Reminds me of an obituary I read in a Union trade magazine a few years back. After describing the death of an excavator operator whose machine rolled down an embankment as a loving husband and father of two who loved hunting and fishing and other typical niceties, the obituary ended with, "damage to the excavator was estimated at $300,000."
Mebee he disappeared?
People think they’re just like cars. They’re not. Much less stable, too much horsepower for the weight if you’re not an experienced rider.
Pretty much like a motorcycle with four wheels.
Worked at a ranch/shooting range and rode them occasionally. The older manual transmission ones were pure death. Finally bought my own side by side as Honda Pioneer 500, what a great ride by comparison.
I had a friend in high school who died riding an ATV. Stupidity did a dirt ramp jump on it, went over the handle bars and landed on his head without a helmet. That crunched his brain stem down on his neck. RIP.
Except at a certain speed, the motorcycle wants to stay upright.
The ATV wants to flip over.
A motorcycle you can lean or lay down. These things, not so much. You’re almost always gonna go over the front or get crushed by an unintentional back flip.
The three- wheelers were even worse.
Only saw someone ride one in the 80’s. They crashed in the first 100 yards.
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