How Doug Lebda built one of Charlotte’s original tech companies
One of Charlotte’s best-known CEOs dies at age 55 in an ATV accident
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From a frustrating mortgage to a fintech empire: Doug Lebda built one of Charlotte’s enduring tech successes
Doug Lebda, 55, built LendingTree over nearly 30 years. He died Sunday in an ATV accident.
by Tony Mecia
The path to creating one of Charlotte’s most enduring tech companies started in 1995, when a recent Bucknell University graduate named Doug Lebda applied for a mortgage on a condo in Pittsburgh.
He found it to be a hassle. And he saw the possibility that the internet — which at the time was available to just one in seven Americans — could make the process easier.
Lebda nursed the idea for a few years before dropping out of the University of Virginia’s business school in 1996 to try to build a company that combined finance and technology. Figuring he’d need a ready supply of bankers, he launched it in Charlotte, from his house, and printed business cards that listed “Suite 100” to lend legitimacy to the new enterprise.
Nearly 30 years later, Lebda had become one of Charlotte’s best-known executives, having pioneered a longstandnig tech company, LendingTree, in a city known for its banking.
LendingTree announced today that Lebda, 55, died Sunday following an all-terrain vehicle accident — a revelation that shocked and saddened those who knew him and those who knew of the legacy he built.
The accident occurred in Tryon, N.C., about 90 miles west of Charlotte, where Lebda was building a farm, former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory told the Charlotte Business Journal. “He was so proud of that farm,” McCrory told the publication.
The company’s board described Lebda as “a visionary leader whose relentless drive, innovation and passion transformed the financial services landscape,” adding that his “unwavering commitment to our team, customers and partners shaped LendingTree’s culture and values.”
The board appointed Scott Peyree, the company’s chief operating officer and president, as president and executive officer effective immediately. Steve Ozonion, the company’s lead independent director and a board member since 2008, was named chairman of the board.
Legacy: People in Charlotte’s technology and entrepreneurial fields on Monday mourned Lebda as a revered, almost larger-than-life figure — someone who proved that tech companies could thrive in Charlotte, and whose encouragement (and money, sometimes behind-the-scenes) supported a wide range of start-ups here.
“His tentacles are everywhere,” said Todd Buelow, cofounder of Charlotte software and technology services company Dualboot Partners. He says Lebda was “one of the first true tech entrepreneurs in Charlotte,” alongside Dave Jones at Peak 10 and Michael Praeger at AvidXchange.
Startup struggles and skepticism
For Lebda, it wasn’t a straight or easy line to the top. In its infancy, his company almost ran out of money during the 2001 dot-com bust. Fortune magazine forecasted that LendingTree would reach “burnout in three months” from the cash crunch. A prominent analyst wrote: “We just don’t see the business model generating enough revenues to drive sustainable growth.”
A financing package saved the company, whose sales were on the rise — from $410,000 in 1998 to $111 million in 2002. It had about $900 million in revenue last year, with around 900 employees, according to securities filings.
What it does: The company’s central service is offering a tech platform that matches consumers with companies that offer financial products such as mortgages, credit cards, car loans and insurance — and getting paid by those companies for the business leads. It’s also described as a “financial marketplace” for consumers, and for many years, LendingTree’s slogan was “When banks compete, you win.”
The company’s Charlotte headquarters has moved several times, from its original location at Carmel Road and N.C. 51, to Ballantyne Corporate Park, to its current home in a South End office tower that bears its logo.
LendingTree was sold in 2003, but then was spun off in 2008, with Lebda again becoming CEO.
Its stock price has been volatile in recent years, peaking at above $400 a share in 2019 and collapsing to around $13 a share in 2023. It’s now around $55.
Lebda’s success made him wealthy. In a two-year period in 2017 and 2018, his total compensation surpassed $100 million, though much of it was tied up in company stock. He and his second wife built a house on Quail Hollow Club’s 15th hole.
He was also generous with his money, creating the LendingTree Foundation that supports local charities, and serving as an inspirational figure in Charlotte tech circles.
He told an interviewer in 2003 that he gave up golf in favor of half-hour rides on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, which he bought on eBay. He called it “type-A relieving hobby.”
Lebda is survived by his wife, Megan, and his three daughters, Rachel, Abby and Sophia.
His wife said in a statement: “His energy was magnetic, his smile contagious, and his presence was a source of comfort and inspiration.”
Tony Mecia is The Ledger’s executive editor. Reach him at tony@cltledger.com. Assistant editor Lindsey Banks contributed to this article.
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