LendingTree founder and CEO, Doug Lebda, dies in an ATV accident

Doug Lebda, the LendingTree founder, chairman, and CEO, died on Sunday in an ATV accident, the company announced. He was 55.

LendingTree named the company's COO, Scott Peyree, as CEO following Lebda's death.

"We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Doug," LendingTree's board of directors said in a statement. "Doug was a visionary leader whose relentless drive, innovation, and passion transformed the financial services landscape, touching the lives of millions of consumers."

Lebda founded LendingTree, then called CreditSource USA, in 1996. He said he founded the company after dealing with the opaque process of getting a mortgage for a condominium, where comparison shopping is challenging.

"I was frustrated by the process as most people are," Lebda told The Daily Item newspaper in 2017. "My insight that there might be a more efficient way of consumers and lenders to find each other was in 1996, as a result of me doing consulting, auditing work for companies in the energy business."

"Let the consumer take the deal that works best for them. We were always envisioned as a search engine or a comparison shopping site," he added.

The company operates a loan platform, where customers searching for a mortgage, personal loan, or other financial product can get preemptive quotes from a range of banks or other financial institutions. Instead of lending directly, it's a place for customers to comparison shop.

It's similar to travel websites like Expedia, which allow shoppers to compare rates from different airlines that could take them to their destination. By entering some financial information and consenting to a soft credit check, a LendingTree customer can compare rates offered by many different auto loan providers, for example. LendingTree itself doesn't make loans; it facilitates them between its clients and a stable of 300 lenders, operating as a marketplace.

Prior to founding the company, Lebda was an auditor and consultant at PwC.

He received an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. Lebda left business school to found LendingTree, but later returned.

Lebda was also a contributor on several media networks, including Bloomberg, CNBC, and Fox Business.

"The news of losing Doug was devastating," Pyree 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."

Lebda is survived by his wife, Megan, and three daughters.

"It is impossible to capture the depth of who Doug was and what he meant to all of us. He was an amazing man with a heart so big it seemed to have room for everyone he met," Doug Lebda's wife, Megan, told WCNC, a local TV station in Charlotte, in a statement. "Doug was compassionate, generous, and endlessly curious about the world and the people around him. He made friends everywhere he went. His energy was magnetic, his smile contagious, and his presence was a source of comfort and inspiration."

"Our hearts are broken, but we are also deeply grateful for the love and support that has poured in from across the world," she added.

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