Bumble co-founder and CEO, Whitney Wolfe Herd has become the youngest woman billionaire. At age 31, she has achieved more than she has ever hoped of achieving and has become the latest role model especially amongst women both old and young.
Her net worth rose to $1.5 billion (the same amount Tesla recently invested in Bitcoin) after dating app Bumble became public. After Tinder, Bumble is the second biggest dating app in the whole of the United States of America.
Whitney Wolfe Herd achieved this impressive feat of becoming the youngest woman billionaire on Thursday after Bumble which is the second biggest dating app in the US went public.
Her almost 12 percent stake in the company sent the net worth of the 31 year old spiralling into the sky into a net worth of $1.5 billion. She indeed started the day not a billionaire and ended the day with the prestigious billionaire title. What a Thursday!
Although she ended the day with a net worth of $1.5 billion, her net worth had a short-lived spike of a little higher than $1.6 billion earlier that Thursday.
Her new net worth became possible because of Bumble shares soaring high in the IPO. From an initial price of $43 per share, it rose as high as $76 per share.
Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd started the company in 2014 after the saga she had at Tinder which is the world’s most famous dating app. She had sued on allegation of sexual harassment. She also accused her former boss and boyfriend; Justin Mateen of threatening to strip her off her title of co-founder of Tinder. The matter was eventually settled. She went on to work with London-based Russian billionaire Andrey Andreev who has a history of making dating apps for European and Latin American markets, to create Bumble.
Andrey Andreev had to leave the company based on allegations that his London-led office was characterized by a misogynistic environment. This decision left the company’s future in shambles but not too long after his exit, Blackstone; a private equity firm showed interest and bought Andreev’s stake in the company. This happened in November 2020 and brought the company’s net value to $3 billion last year. The IPO ended well for the company as its market capitalisation rose to $8.6 billion.
Bumble stands out from other apps because it gives women the pivotal role of making the first outreach on the app. The company’s future sure looks as bright as the sun with the way things are going for them.
