Gary Kremen (born 20 September 1963[1]) is an American engineer, entrepreneur and politician who founded the personals site Match.com, was the first registrant of Sex.com and founder of Clean Power Finance, and was a board member of the Santa Clara Valley Water District from 2014 through 2022.
Since 1993, Kremen has been a private and angel investor in over 100 companies (individually or through venture capital funds), of which several have gone public or had liquidity events.
Born in Chicago and raised in a Jewish household[2] in nearby Lincolnwood, Illinois, Kremen graduated from Niles West High School in 1981.
[6] From 1995 to 1996, Kremen co-founded and served as president of NetAngels.com, Inc., an Internet profiling and personalization company[4] that suggested web sites to users.
[13] A 2007 New York Times article on "millionaires who don't feel rich" reported that Kremen estimated his net worth at $10 million.
[20] Kremen is the founding investor and a board member of CrowdFlower,[21] WaterSmart Software[22] and CapGain Solutions [23] as well as involved with local non-profit organizations.
[30] Kremen was appointed to the Proposition 39 Citizens Oversight Board by California State Controller John Chiang in January 2014.
[36][37] Kremen was at some point appointed by the Water Board to The Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Joint Powers Authority.
[citation needed] He ran for the political job of Santa Clara County Assessor in 2021 and 2022, seeking to unseat 27-year incumbent Larry Stone.
"[32] But there were other accusations, including bullying, campaigning as a nonprofit, and a threat to harm a Democratic club that planned a Middle East resolution that Kremen opposed.