Former Billionaire Whitney Wolfe Herd Out As Bumble CEO

Forbes

Bumble cofounder Whitney Wolfe Herd will step down as the dating app company’s chief executive, the firm announced on November 6th, as the former billionaire Wolfe Herd slides into a new role while Bumble’s growing pains as a public company continue.  Formerly the youngest self-made female billionaire ever, the firm announced on November 6th that Wolfe Herd will exit her current post as chief executive and become Bumble’s executive chairwoman on January 2nd.   The move follows an extended slide for Bumble stock since the company’s initial public offering in February 2021. At that time, the dating app held a nearly $9 billion valuation. But at Friday’s market close, Bumble’s $13.67 share price was 83% below its all-time high of $78.89, achieved in its first week of trading.   Stepping in as CEO will be Lidiane Jones, who currently serves in the same capacity at workplace messaging service, Slack.

Transcript

00:00 Whitney Wolfhard, co-founder of Bumble,

00:02 was once known as the Queen Bee of dating apps.

00:06 Women can make the first move.

00:07 Women are equal, and that's why we set out

00:10 to do that in dating and in friendship,

00:12 and here we are at business and networking.

00:14 But now, just six years later,

00:16 Wolfhard will be stepping down

00:18 as the dating app company's CEO

00:20 and sliding into a new role

00:22 while Bumble's growing pains as a public company continue.

00:26 Formerly the youngest self-made female billionaire ever,

00:30 the firm announced on November 6th

00:32 that Wolfhard will exit her current post as chief executive

00:35 and become Bumble's executive chairwoman on January 2nd.

00:39 The move follows an extended slide for Bumble Stock

00:43 since the company's initial public offering

00:45 in February 2021.

00:47 At that time, the dating app held

00:49 a nearly $9 billion valuation,

00:51 but at Friday's market close,

00:53 Bumble's $13.67 share price was 83% below

00:58 its all-time high of $78.89,

01:01 achieved in its first week of trading.

01:04 The 34-year-old Wolfhard saw her own fortune tumble

01:08 as Bumble shares cratered, losing her billionaire status.

01:12 Bumble Stock slid 9% to about $12.40

01:17 in early Monday trading

01:18 following the news of the CEO transition,

01:21 trading well below its all-time low closing price

01:24 of $12.90 set last week.

01:26 Previously a co-founder of Tinder,

01:30 Wolfhard founded the female-oriented Bumble in 2014,

01:34 shortly after suing Tinder for sexual harassment.

01:37 But as Bumble's market capitalization

01:40 slipped to below $2 billion,

01:42 Wolfhard's fortune took a similar tumble,

01:45 tanking from a peak of about $1.5 billion in early 2021

01:50 to $510 million as of this May.

01:53 Bumble, which was part of 2021's record-setting year of IPOs,

01:58 has experienced similar stock declines

02:00 to other companies that went public during the boom period.

02:04 Stepping in as CEO will be Lydianne Jones,

02:07 who currently serves in the same capacity

02:09 at workplace messaging service Slack.

02:12 (gentle music)

02:14 (gentle music)

02:17 (gentle music)

02:19 (gentle music)

02:22 (upbeat music)

Transcript

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