George Arison

George Arison
Arison in 2019
Born	Irakli Areshidze (ირაკლი არეშიძე) 1977 (age 46–47) Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Education	Middlebury College (BA)
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, businessman
Title	Founder of Shift CEO-designate of Grindr
Spouse	Robert Luo ​ (m. 2019)​
Children	2

George Arison (born Irakli Areshidze, Georgian: ირაკლი არეშიძე; in 1977) is a Georgian-born American businessman and investor. He is the founder and co-CEO of Shift, an online, peer-to-peer marketplace for buying and selling used cars. Prior to Shift, in 2007, he co-founded Taxi Magic, known today as Curb (RideCharge, Inc.). As a political scholar and activist, he is considered for strong pro-democracy views for Georgia in its post-Soviet transition.^[1]

Early life and education

Arison was born Irakli Areshidze^[2] in Tbilisi in Georgia in 1977. He moved to the United States at the age of 14.^[3] He claims to be the "first student from the Soviet Union allowed to attend a private U.S. high school without a government sponsorship".^[4] In 2000, he graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont,^[5] with a bachelor's degree in political science, having studied under political scientist Murray Dry.^[6]

Career

Early career

After graduating from Middlebury, between 2000 and 2004, Arison moved to Washington D.C. to pursue a career in politics, founding a think tank focused on building democracy in his home country of Georgia. He went to Tbilisi to help manage an election campaign there.^[7]

He also worked briefly for Boston Consulting Group (BCG) alongside his fellow Middlebury alum Toby Russell.^[4] In 2007, he co-founded Taxi Magic, today known as Curb (RideCharge, Inc.), which uses mobile technology to organize transportation, on demand.^[8] In the same year, Arison authored the book ‘’Democracy and Autocracy in Eurasia, published in 2007.^[9]

Shift

Main article: Shift (business)

In 2014, Arison co-founded Shift, an online, peer-to-peer, marketplace for buying and selling used cars.^[10] Shift acts as "an agent between used car buyers and sellers."^[11] In 2014, Arison secured a $23.8 million investment, primarily from chief investors DFJ and Highland Capital Partners, as well as SV Angel and Great Oaks VC, along with individuals like Lars Rasmussen of Google Maps and Hans Robertson of Meraki.^[10]

In 2015, Arison made a deal with Goldman Sachs, which lead to a $50 million investment in Shift. The investment's purpose was to expand the company's services beyond Silicon Valley and Los Angeles to compete with market leaders like Carmax and Craigslist. Arison said at the time: "We think that any city with 250,000 people or more could have an awesome Shift marketplace. We don’t want to make a lot of money on the car itself. Marketplaces win when they offer a better product for less money."^[12] Between 2017 & 2018 BMW iVentures, Alliance Ventures, and Lithia Motors participated in multiple rounds of investment (Series C & D) which brought together $178 million in equity and debt.^[13][14][15]

In October 2020, Arison led Shift through a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) called Insurance Acquisition Corp, which brought an additional $300 million to the company and resulted in Shift becoming a publicly traded company at Nasdaq.^[16]

Political activity and commentary

In May 2016, when Donald Trump was criticized for his policies by businesspeople in Silicon Valley, Arison was included, saying, "We all very strongly believe in immigration and bringing very skilled, awesome people to the U.S. and welcoming them. Google wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for (Russian-born) Sergey Brin and Tesla wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Elon Musk."^[17]

In the same year, Arison was a speaker for the Clinton Global Initiative.^[18] He has also contributed to numerous publications, including the Christian Science Monitor,^[1] The Wall Street Journal,^[19] and The Washington Post.^[20]

In 2020, Arison also publicly supported the CARES Act, considering it "a huge win for small business owners" during the coronavirus pandemic.^[21]

Grindr

In September 2022, Arison was named CEO of gay dating app Grindr prior to the company going public through a merger with Tiga Acquisition Corp.^[22] Arinson has stated publicly his plans for the organisation and a change to the company offerings via an introduction to a multi-tier paid subscription model and increase investments on app monetisation.^[23] In July of 2023, employees at Grindr announced a union campaign to which Arison responded to by instituting a return to office policy. This move has been used as a common union busting tactic. ^[24]

Controversies

On October of 2022, Arison faced backlash for Tweets that resurfaced where he showed support for conservative politicians who do not support the rights of the LGBTQ+ community such as Donald Trump and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. These resurfaced as he became the CEO of Grindr.^[25]

Investments

Currently, he is an investor in following early-stage startups; Shipper,^[26] Carrot Fertility,^[27] Pulsar AI,^[28] AutoLeap,^[29] and TravelBank.^[26]

Personal life

In early 2019, Arison married Robert Luo.^[30] In fall of the same year, the couple had two children named Luka and Emilia via surrogacy.^[31]

References

1. "The path forward in Georgia: Will billionaire Ivanishvili invest in democracy?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
2. "Michigan State University Press". MSU Press. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
3. "Alumnus to Speak at Cum Laude". Hebron Academy. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
4. "George Arison". LinkedIn. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
5. "Middlebury College Admissions: International Students". Middlebury College. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
6. Areshidze, Giorgi; Carrese, Paul O.; Sherry, Suzanna (20 June 2016). Constitutionalism, Executive Power, and the Spirit of Moderation: Murray P. Dry and the Nexus of Liberal Education and Politics. SUNY Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-4384-6043-7.
7. Lapiashvili, Giorgi Isakadze, Ana (2019-01-21). "An Impossible Life". Forbes Georgia (in Georgian). Retrieved 2021-02-15.
8. "George Arison". Bloomberg. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
9. "George Arison". Inc.com. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
10. Chapman, Lizette (18 November 2014). "Shift Technologies Raises $23.8 Million to Build Used Car Marketplace". Wall Street Journal. WSJ. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
11. "Why Shoptalk Isn't Jumping the Shark on Retail Trade Shows". Huffington Post. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
12. "Used Car Retailer, Shift, Raises $50 Million In Round Led By Goldman Sachs". TechCrunch. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
13. Geron, Tomio (2017-07-19). "Shift's Used-Car Marketplace Kicks Into High Gear". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
14. "BMW, G2VP Is Investing in Online Used Sales Startup Shift". Fortune. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
15. "Online used car startup Shift raises $140 million". TechCrunch. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
16. "Insurance Acquisition Completes Shift Auto Retailer Deal; IPO Launches". Insurance Journal. 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
17. "rump Supporters Are Rarer Than Unicorns in Silicon Valley". Bloomberg. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
18. "Clinton Global Initiative Speakers". Clinton Foundation. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
19. Areshidze, Irakly (2003-11-25). "Who Lost, and Won, in Georgia". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
20. Areshidze, Irakly (2004-02-21). "Questions For Mikheil Saakashvili". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
21. "Letter to the editor: Collins' Paycheck Protection Program is a win for small-business owners". Press Herald. 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
22. "Gay dating app Grindr soars on stock market debut". www.ft.com. 18 November 2022.
23. "New Grindr CEO George Arison shares his ambitious plans for the app following its soaring public debut". fastcompany.com. 18 November 2022.
24. Factora, James (August 15, 2023). "As Its Workers Move to Unionize, Grindr Unveils a Strict Return-to-Office Policy".
25. "New Grindr CEO's Political Tweets Anger Users". Time. 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
26. "BLNGU | Belong Acquisition Corp. SEC Filings". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
27. Siu, Antoinette. "S.F. startup wants to help companies offer egg freezing as a workplace benefit". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
28. "'Empathetic' software is set to change the way we shop". Pando. 2020-12-07. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
29. "AutoLeap says it will repair your lousy relationship with car shops". TechCrunch. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
30. Rafkin, Louise (2019-03-22). "And You Thought Your Family Was Modern (Published 2019)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
31. America, Good Morning. "Couple welcomes two babies born 9 days and hundreds of miles apart". Good Morning America. Retrieved 2021-02-15.