Doug Lebda, the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of financial services marketplace LendingTree, died over the weekend in an all-terrain vehicle accident, according to the company. He was 55.
Lebda established LendingTree in 1996 after experiencing a lack of transparency and confusing process while obtaining a mortgage. His goal was to simplify financial decisions and foster economic opportunity.
The fintech veteran also applied his entrepreneurial focus to financial literacy, co-founding Tykoon, a financial-services platform aimed at helping children and families manage money.
Prior to founding the companies, Lebda was an auditor and consultant for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He graduated from Bucknell University to complete his undergraduate degree and attended the University of Virginia Darden School of Business for his MBA, though he initially left business school to start LendingTree, returning nearly 20 years later to complete his degree.
A new company
LendingTree launched nationally out of its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1998, followed by an initial public offering in 2000.
The company's early days were characterized by customer acquisition and courting investment, and by 2001, it had three million applications, almost $150 million of funding, but was unprofitable.
In its early days, LendingTree spent $50 million on a nationwide television campaign intended to build the brand, which featured borrowers taking control as lenders competed for their business.
The campaign helped reduce the cost of customer acquisition from $100 to about $28, the company said at the time.
By 2001, LendingTree originated $500 million of loans per month, and its network included six of the top 10 mortgage companies and seven of the top 10 banks at the time.
When he set out to build the company, Lebda said he underestimated the amount of effort required to raise money. He joked to American Banker years later that "CEO" should stand for "capital extraction officer."
Lebda recalled one major mortgage lender executive cutting him off during a meeting. The lender, according to Lebda, "literally started pounding on the table, saying: 'You will never work with us! You will never get between us and our customers!'"
That lender later became a successful participant on the LendingTree exchange, Lebda said.
In 2003, LendingTree was sold to InterActiveCorp. Lebda served as IAC's president and chief operating officer from 2005 to 2008. In 2008, he rejoined the newly formed Tree.com (later rebranded as LendingTree) when it spun out from IAC as a separate public company.
Giving back
In 2012, Lebda co-founded and served as chairman of Tykoon, which provided a platform to enable kids to complete real tasks to earn real money, which they could then save, donate to charities, and spend on parent-approved items.
Lebda said at the time that the platform was changing user behavior, stating that his own kids would ask to do more things around the house to earn money.
Lebda also co-taught an entrepreneurship class at his alma mater, the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Following his death, LendingTree's board of directors said Monday that it had appointed Scott Peyree to serve as president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Peyree had been president and chief operating officer before the change.
Steve Ozonian, lead independent director, was appointed chairman of the board.
The board said Lebda "was a visionary leader whose relentless drive, innovation and passion transformed the financial services landscape, touching the lives of millions of consumers.
Scott Peyree noted that the strong management team Lebda put in place is "one of the most immediate impacts of his legacy."
