Whitney Wolfe Herd Becomes Billionaire at 31

By Grace Burns

In a virtual world, all facets of life have had to shift. Workplaces moved to Zoom and Webex, gyms and workout clubs moved to Peloton, social lives became more heavily reliant on social media, and dating moved to be chiefly reliant on dating apps, such as Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble.

Bumble, as it stands apart from other dating apps of its kind, is marketing as the dating app that puts females first. The app has currently 12.3 million monthly active users and is centered around the premise that only women can make the first move, via virtual message.

In a letter on Bumble’s website from Founder and CEO Whitney Wolf Herd, Herd writes that “Since 2017, the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have put sexual harassment and gender discrimination at the center of the cultural conversation. I’m more dedicated than ever to helping advance gender equality — and putting an end to the misogyny that still plagues society.”

The overwhelming success of the company can be attributed to the work of Herd, the youngest female CEO to take her company public. Herd founded Bumble in 2014 as a pathway to alter the antiquated gender dynamics of dating and online dating alike. Bumble hosts a mostly female board and remains an advocate for mitigating gender disparity in both the workplace and dating scene. It is backed by female celebrities, including Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

Today, the company continues to expand and announced earlier this year that it will be going public. According to CNBC, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan led the offering.

The female leadership within Bumble contributes to the rising representation of females on Wall Street in the past few years. While currently, only 6% of companies in the S&P 500 have female CEOs, venture capitalist firms are looking to expand into female-led companies.

On Thursday, February 11, Bumble released its initial public offering on the Nasdaq under the ticket number BMBL and priced the shares at $43 apiece with an original target range from $37 to $39. The company sold 50 million shares and began trading up 77% at $76 per share.

As of March 4, BMBL is priced at $62.01. While this is much higher than its IPO price, it is an interesting investment consideration, as COVID restrictions are being lifted across the nation.

The company’s largest competitor is previously mentioned Match Group, the owner of Hinge, Match, Tinder, and other dating competitors, with a market cap of $45.5 billion. Bumble stands alone, however, in being specifically targeted towards women, and could be a profitable investment amidst budding social movements dismantling the heteronormative guidelines and standards of dating.

Congratulations to CEO Whitney Wolf Herd and Bumble as an organization for their forward-thinking mission strategy and business plan. We look forward to continuing to monitoring the growth of Bumble, as well as the gender-inclusive and socially progressive messaging it represents.