His company experienced one of the biggest data breaches in history, so the question of where Noel Biderman is now is a reasonable one. The Ashley Madison CEO, who helped found the company in 2001, was himself named among the some 32 million users of his dating site which was designed for people seeking adulterous affairs, in a 2015 cybersecurity hack.
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Netflix’s three-episode series Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies and Scandal examines the meteoric rise of the website—which was truly a pioneer as far as online dating goes—and the hack that made it all come crashing down. The breach exposed the personal information of users, including names, email addresses, credit card information, and other sensitive data. The impact was widespread, leading to scandals, lawsuits, at least one suicide, and even incidents of blackmail. So where is Noel Biderman now? Here’s what happened to him after the infamous Ashley Madison hack.
Where is Noel Biderman now?
According to his website, Biderman “is an international CEO, public company board member, founder, author, speaker, lecturer and father. Noel has overseen companies in a number of different verticals, most recently in the legal tech and online dating spaces, but in addition, in the IPTV, online real estate, and sports management arena.” His LinkedIn profile says he still lives in Toronto and he’s been the CEO of Avenue Insights since 2016.
Biderman stepped down from Avid Life Media, Ashley Madison’s parent company, on August 28, 2015. It was quite the fall from grace for Biderman, whose name was revealed among the millions of others in the data leak, considering he was the face of the site for decades while boasting of his own monogamous marriage. Biderman’s personal emails revealed that he repeatedly sought young escorts, per The Guardian.
In Hulu’s 2023 documentary about the scandal, The Ashley Madison Affair, Biderman’s lawyer referred to the businessman as a “committed husband and father” who was “also the victim of a crime, like the customers of Ashley Madison whose public information was hacked and publicized.”
The statement continued: “While Mr. Biderman understands the differences between himself and those customers, he—like many of them—have, in the intervening years, attempted to move on and repair the damage to his life and relationships. He feels fortunate that his wife, Amanda, has stood by him throughout. And he is committed to continuing to move forward and grow.”
The Ashley Madison site is still operating though there have been some changes to leadership and ahem, heightened security and encryption. In July 2016, Avid Life Media rebranded, changing its name to Ruby Corp, and appointed a new CEO, Rob Segal.
As of May 2024, the site claims to have 50 million users worldwide. Formerly owned by Avid Life Media Inc., along with other dating websites such as Cougar Life and Established Men, Ashley Madison’s parent company is now simply known as Ruby.
“We like that Ruby has a sensual, feminine quality, connotes value, and fits with the fresh start our company is undergoing,” President James Millership told CBC at the time. “It’s a new day at Ruby and renaming … is an important step in our journey to completely rebuild the company as a relevant, digital dating innovator that truly cares for our customers,” Segal added.
As for the hackers, they’ve never been found. “It’s a fascinating aspect of the whole story,” Toby Paton, the Netflix series director said about the hacker’s identity to The New York Post. “The cyber expert that we speak to said it’s extremely unusual to have a sophisticated and high-profile [hack] and have the person who did it have never done anything before and never do anything since. It really seemed like it was a one-off.”
