Tinder founders sue dating app's owner for $2 billion

The founders of the dating app Tinder sued its owner on Tuesday, charging that they were cheated out of stock options and seeking $2 billion in damages.

Tinder's founders — Sean Rad, Justin Mateen and Jonathan Badeen — are accusing IAC/InterActiveCorp and its dating-focused subsidiary of financial manipulation that resulted in their stock options being stripped away.

Of the founders, only Badeen is still at the company.

Rad, Tinder's co-founder and first CEO, said in a statement to NBC News: "We were always concerned about IAC's reputation for ignoring their contractual commitments and acting like the rules don't apply to them. But we never imagined the lengths they would go to cheat all the people who built Tinder."

The statement claims that Tinder is on pace to earn $800 million this year, which is 75 percent more than IAC/Match projections. The Tinder founders said in its lawsuit, filed in New York, that IAC, which is run by Chairman Barry Diller, concocted false financial information, hiding truthful projections of continued rapid growth and delaying the launch of new products.

A spokesperson for the company was not immediately available for comment.