Noel Biderman Resigns As Ashley Madison CEO After 37 Million Customers Exposed In Devastating Hack

Noel Biderman has resigned as CEO of Avid Life Media, corporate parent of Ashley Madison. The adultery website was victimized in a massive hack last week that exposed the personal information and sexual preferences of more than 37 million customers.

The company announced Biderman's departure in a statement Friday, saying his exit was a "mutual agreement."

“Until the appointment of a new CEO, the company will be led by the existing senior management team,” the statement said. “This change is in the best interest of the company, and allows us to continue to provide support to our members and dedicated employees.”

The polarizing site, which used the tagline “Life Is Short, Have An Affair,” was hacked by a group known only as The Impact Team, which threatened to expose the personal information belonging to all Ashley Madison customers as well as sensitive corporate details unless the site voluntarily shut down. The Impact Team carried through on its threat on August 18, dumping more than 10 gigabytes of information stolen from Ashley Madison online.

The fallout has continued for more than a week, as media outlets combed through the data to find that a number of celebrities and politicians were among the site’s customers. Biderman, himself a married man, was incriminated in the data dump, sending hundreds of messages to numerous women between 2012 and earlier this year, leaked emails show. Biderman appears to have taken up correspondence with a student, an escort who repeatedly asked him for money and a number of other partners at a spa before setting up appointments to meet at a Toronto hotel.

Biderman became the president of Avid Life Media in 2007. He became CEO in 2010.

Now the future of Avid Life Media is in doubt. The company had $115 million in revenue in 2014 but, since the hack, has been named in at least four class action lawsuits seeking more than $500 million in damages.