Rocket Resume, a resume-building company, has accused Bold Limited — as well as two other Bold companies and some members of the C-suite — of allegedly engaging in “a widespread scheme of deception and anticompetitive conduct” in the resume-building platform market through a “complex web of sham corporate entities around the globe,” per a lawsuit filed Thursday in a federal district court in California.
At the center of the lawsuit is Bold’s portfolio of brands, which Rocket Resume alleged is obfuscated to avoid accusations of monopoly building. On Bold’s company website, they disclose ownership of several popular resume-building brands, including:
- My Perfect Resume
- Monster
- Flexjobs
- Bold.pro
- CareerBuilder
- Sonara
- Zety
- Livecareer
- My Perfect Coverletter
Rocket Resume alleges Bold also owns 11 other brands that are not disclosed on the website. Additionally, they claim Bold hides evidence of its ownership on the brand websites directly. For example, a company called Works Limited is said to own Zety on its brand site, though Bold LLC is listed on the contact page.
“Altogether, through its various sham entities, BOLD controls over 80% of the online resume Market, with very few independent rivals left,” the lawsuit alleged. “Left unchecked, BOLD’s anticompetitive tactics have succeeded and will continue to succeed, and the Market will be left almost entirely in its hands, depriving millions of customers of price competition and meaningful choice.”
Among Rocket Resume’s allegations, the company asserts that Bold maintains its monopoly by paying “inflated prices” for Google search advertising positions, “prices that rivals like Rocket Resume cannot match without operating at a loss” roiling competitors in frivolous lawsuits to prevent their growth and potentially affecting millions of job seekers in the U.S.
Rocket Resume brought its lawsuit under the Sherman Antitrust Act and the California Unfair Competition Act.
Bold could not be reached for comment by press time.