Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble, Resigns as CEO of Popular Dating App

Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and CEO of one of the largest dating apps in the world, is stepping down from her position after nearly 10 years. She will assume the role of executive chair at Bumble. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Wolfe Herd expressed her desire to "innovate for the future of Bumble Inc and to take us 10 years ahead." Lidiane Jones, the current CEO of Slack, will replace her in January. At just 34 years old, Wolfe Herd became the world's youngest self-made female billionaire when she took Bumble public in February 2021. She created the company in 2014, setting it apart from its competitors by giving women control over interactions. Her frustration with outdated gender norms in the dating world inspired her to create a platform where women "make the first move." In heterosexual matches, only female users can initiate contact, while in same-sex matches, either person can send the first message. Bumble's shares reached a high of $75 after going public but have since fallen, hitting an all-time low of $12.77 following the announcement of Wolfe Herd's departure. Match Group, the parent company of Bumble's competitor Tinder and Hinge, has also experienced a decline in its share price during this period. Jones, who will take over as CEO of Bumble, has been the CEO of Slack, a popular instant messaging platform for workplaces, since January 2023. Prior to that, she worked at Slack's parent company Salesforce and Microsoft. Jones stated that she intends to focus on utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) at Bumble, believing that it can significantly aid in connecting people with the right partners, friends, and communities. Before founding Bumble, Wolfe Herd was part of the founding team at Tinder. However, after conflicts with other executives, including one she had been in a relationship with, she departed the company. Shortly after, she filed a sexual harassment case, which Tinder's parent company, Match Group Inc, denied, but ultimately settled for around $1 million (£810,000). Bumble is known for supporting campaigns for women's safety, such as advocating for the criminalization of cyber-flashing in the UK and EU. In October, cyber-flashing became illegal in the UK as part of the Online Safety Act. Bumble also takes a strong stance against users who engage in body shaming, and like other dating apps, it has measures in place to detect and allow recipients to choose whether to view or block nude images sent in private chats.