What was once seen as a last resort is quickly becoming a power move among the wealthy: outsourcing one’s love life. Across the U.S. and the U.K., a growing number of high-earning men are abandoning dating apps and investing tens of thousands of dollars in private matchmaking firms to find a serious relationship. Frustrated by endless swiping, ghosting, and surface-level matches, these men are opting for a curated approach one that costs anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 but promises something apps can’t: efficiency, privacy, and personalization.
Grant Miller, a 39-year-old visual effects executive, knows this shift firsthand. After a breakup last year, he gave dating apps another try only to remember why he had left them in the first place. “I was on Raya and Tinder, and you’d think the experience would be better on Raya but it’s not,” he said. “It’s just the same. An enormous waste of time and energy.”
Years earlier, Miller had actually found a long-term partner through a Los Angeles matchmaking service. The relationship lasted three years, convincing him the process could work. After moving to London, he interviewed three agencies and chose Maclynn, a luxury matchmaking firm with offices in London and New York. Since signing up in September 2024, Miller has paid around £20,000 roughly $26,000 and met 16 women through the service. “We took a very open approach as I was available and enjoyed meeting new people,” he said. Some dates became short relationships, others friendships. One connection, he added, has long-term potential. “Our schedules and lifestyles just need some alignment, which has been challenging,” he admitted, “but overall, it’s worth it.”
For Miller, matchmaking is as much an investment in time as in romance. “When you multiply the hours you’d spend dating by your hourly rate, the fees don’t seem that bad,” he said. “I value my time, and I’m serious about finding the right person.”
Behind stories like his lies a clear trend. Selective Search, a U.S.-based matchmaking firm, reports a 35% increase in clients since 2019 and a 65% jump in inquiries. Marketing specialist Grace Urban said interest in 2025 is surging, with a 23% rise in male clients so far this year. “This steady demand has been driven by high-quality men seeking a more intentional and effective way to date,” she said.
Maclynn, the agency Miller chose, has seen double-digit growth among high-net-worth men every year since 2020. “We’ve experienced nearly a fivefold increase in that client base over five years,” said global operations director Mia Wealthall. By the end of September 2025, 70% of new Maclynn clients were high-net-worth men, with sign-ups up 25% year-over-year for the third quarter.
Other matchmaking services are seeing similar spikes. Matchmaking.com reports a 60% increase in clients between 2020 and 2021, followed by steady 25% growth each year through 2024. “More high-earning men are stepping away from the noise of dating apps,” said Cheryl Maida, the firm’s director of matchmaking. “They’re tired of endless conversations that go nowhere, ghosting, and not knowing who’s actually serious.” U.K.-based Ignite Dating reported male inquiries up 42% in just 18 months.
It’s not just anecdotal. The luxury matchmaking market is booming. Verified Market Research projects the global premium matchmaking industry will nearly double in size from $1.27 billion in 2023 to $2.39 billion by 2032.
For men like Miller, the appeal is more than convenience; it’s about increasing their odds of finding something real. “You start calculating the percentages,” he said. “You’re down to maybe one in a hundred thousand women who check all your boxes and you’re not going to meet a hundred women on your own.”
What he values most in a partner is ambition and emotional compatibility. “Financial success doesn’t always translate to romantic success,” he said. “It narrows the dating pool if you’re looking for someone who’s not intimidated by wealth but also not defined by it.” For that, he trusts matchmakers to filter out the wrong types. “They’re very good at sniffing out, for lack of a better word, gold diggers,” he said. “I’m looking for someone who’s additive to my life someone bringing her own value.”
Unlike dating apps that rely on algorithms and swipes, luxury matchmaking is human-driven. Clients begin with extensive consultations sometimes two to three hours long delving into personal histories, values, and long-term goals. “They really dig deep in the interview process,” said Miller. “I spent a couple of hours just talking through my past relationships what went well, what didn’t, and what I’m working on personally.” From there, matchmakers use private networks and even headhunting techniques to find potential partners, often across countries.
When matches are presented, clients receive detailed profiles, photos, and background information a far cry from what you get scrolling through an app. “On apps, you’re not really meeting a person,” Miller said. “You’re meeting a curated image a performance of themselves.”
Experts say this shift isn’t necessarily a rejection of dating apps but rather an evolution of how busy people outsource parts of their lives. Jess Carbino, former sociologist for Tinder and Bumble, said matchmaking represents a natural extension of that outsourcing trend. “People already outsource their food delivery, their fitness coaching, even their home management,” she said. “Why not outsource dating something highly personal but also time-consuming?”
Pepper Schwartz, a sociology professor at the University of Washington, agrees that the appeal for wealthy clients often comes down to perceived control and efficiency. “There’s a belief that money buys you a better product, a better experience, even a better partner,” she said. “Whether that’s true or not, that’s the theory many operate on.”
Schwartz cautioned that matchmaking pools may be smaller than clients assume. “They often think there are more potential matches than there really are,” she said. Still, she understands the desire for structure and results. “The pressure to find love later in life is real,” she said. “And hiring a matchmaker gives people the illusion and sometimes the reality of being proactive.”
As for Miller, he’s not disillusioned by the cost or the process. To him, it’s simply a logical extension of how he manages the rest of his life: efficiently and with intention. “You can hope that something will just happen for you,” he said. “But if you really want love, you’ve got to go out there and look for it and sometimes, you’ve got to pay for help to find it.”
