$100,000 Matchmaker, Make Me a Match

In this economy, it seems unthinkable that people would pay up to six figures just to find a mate. And yet expensive matchmakers are reporting that business is up these days. In New York City, Janis Spindel, who charges clients between $50,000 and $500,000 a year to find the "woman of their dreams," says membership jumped 41% in 2009 from the year before and is up 46% so far this year. Premier Match, a New York City–based agency where annual membership costs a minimum of $5,500, logged $1.5 million in sales last year, a 30% increase from the previous year. Founder Christie Nightingale says her business "hasn't faced the recession."


So who is willing to pay this kind of money? James, 48, a private-wealth managing director at an investment bank who asked that we not print his last name, was tired of serial dating after his divorce in 2005. None of the women referred to him by well-meaning friends and family were a right fit, he says. Eventually, "a waste of time, money and heartache," as he put it, drove him to Kelleher International, a San Francisco–based firm that counts NBA All-Stars, celebrities, Hollywood directors and billionaire investment managers among its clients.


More: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2007394,00.html

i think that mindsets have changed, therefore, people don't find it embarrassing to get a matchmaker anymore.

i think the abov ementioned company links the gold biggers to the gold mines. good job.

i would get a matchmaker if i could afford it. makes perfect sense to get help if you need it.