BOSTON — Larry Basile, the founding partner of Online Buddies, the parent company of gay dating site Manhunt.net, announced his retirement from the company today.
Basile co-founded Online Buddies in 2001 with longtime business partner Jonathan Crutchley, who now will become sole owner of the company.
Their business relationship began in 1992 when Crutchley joined Basile in promoting a Boston-based telephone chat line for gay men Basile founded in 1987.
Together, Basile and Crutchley created and developed Manhunt, Jack'd, Dandy and other social products for gay men, becoming one of the largest companies in the world to connect men seeking men.
The company said its products now serve more than 17 million members, with 82,000 new profiles added each week and a combined 1 million unique visits daily.
Crutchley purchased Basile’s share of the company and will continue to operate the company with his executive team.
“Larry and I enjoyed a long and successful business partnership,” said Crutchley at this morning’s announcement. “His retirement was not expected, but it wasn’t a surprise either.
“Larry started out by owning the major share of the business, but over the past 22 years of our partnership, he has sold small increments of the company to me until I owned the majority," Crutchley said. "He always intended for this day.”
Crutchley said his sole ownership of Online Buddies is intended to be temporary. He is currently seeking investors interested in joining him in the enterprise.