Whitney Wolfe Herd

Whitney Wolfe Herd

Founder and CEO of Bumble (born 1989)

Whitney Wolfe Herd (born July 1, 1989) is an American entrepreneur most notable as the founder, executive chair, and CEO of Bumble. She is a co-founder of Tinder and was previously its Vice President of Marketing.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Whitney Wolfe Herd (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jul 1, 1989.1

About

Wolfe became the world's youngest female billionaire when she took Bumble public in 2021; she was also the youngest woman to take a company public in the United States, at age 31.

From Wikipedia’s article on Whitney Wolfe Herd, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • 2003 to 2007Judge Memorial Catholic High School high school diploma3
  • Date not recordedSouthern Methodist University3

Whitney Wolfe was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Kelly and Michael Wolfe.

Wolfe attended Judge Memorial Catholic High School. For college, she attended Southern Methodist University, where she majored in international studies and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

While in college at the age of 20, she partnered with celebrity stylist Patrick Aufdenkamp to launch a non-profit organization, the Help Us Project, which sold bamboo tote bags to benefit areas affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The bags received national attention after celebrities, including Rachel Zoe and Nicole Richie, were photographed with them. Soon after, she launched a second venture with Aufdenkamp — a clothing line named Tender Heart.

After graduating, Wolfe Herd worked with orphanages in Southeast Asia.

From Wikipedia’s article on Whitney Wolfe Herd (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: businessperson, entrepreneur, celebrity.9

  • Since 2014Worked at Bumble Inc.4
  • 2012 to 2014Worked at Tinder4
  • Date not recordedFounded Bumble Holding Limited5
  • Date not recordedFounded Tinder6
  • Date not recordedFounded Bumble7
  • Date not recordedChief executive, Bumble Holding Limited8

Early career

In 2012, at age 22, Wolfe joined Cardify, a startup led by Sean Rad at the Hatch Labs business incubator. The project was later abandoned, but Wolfe joined the development team of Tinder (initially called MatchBox) with Rad and Christopher Gulczynski.

Before the app's launch, Wolfe was named vice president of marketing for Tinder. She reportedly came up with the name of the app, taking inspiration from the flame logo and the idea of tinder – easily combustible material used to start a fire. She has also been credited with fueling the app's initial popularity on college campuses and growing its user base.

Wolfe resigned from Tinder in April 2014. In September of that year, she received a more than $1 million settlement from her lawsuit against the company for sexual discrimination and sexual harassment after dating a Tinder co-founder who became "verbally controlling and abusive".

Read more

Bumble Inc. (2014–present)

After leaving Tinder, Wolfe started sketching out a female-only social network centered around compliments, which she then called Merci.

Badoo founder Andrey Andreev encouraged her to start a new dating app and brought her on as a partner in his company, MagicLab, later renamed Bumble Inc. Andreev retained 79% ownership in the company for an investment of $10 million, along with additional investments, consulting services, and use of Badoo's infrastructure; Wolfe served as CEO and received a 20% ownership stake. In December 2014, Wolfe moved to Austin, Texas to continue work on the app.

By December 2015, Bumble had reached more than 15 million conversations and 80 million matches.

During this time, Wolfe received several distinctions and honors in the media. In 2014, she was named one of Business Insider's 30 Most Important Women Under 30 In Tech. In May 2016, she was featured as one of Elle's Women in Tech. She was also named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 lists in both 2017 and 2018.

In 2018, she was featured as one of InStyle’s "50 Women Who Are Changing the World" and Time named her to the Time 100 list.

In April 2019, Bumble released the first print issue of Bumble Mag in partnership with Hearst.

In November 2019, Andreev sold a majority stake in Bumble Inc. to The Blackstone Group. Whitney Wolfe Herd received an ownership stake of approximately 19% and was named CEO of the company, then valued at $3 billion with an estimated 75 million users.

In 2020, Bumble Inc. replaced MagicLab as the parent company of both Bumble and Badoo. At the time, Bumble had more than 100 million users worldwide.

In February 2021, Bumble Inc. became a public company via an initial public offering. Wolfe Herd's 18-month-old son was on her hip as she rang the Nasdaq bell. With this IPO launch, she became the world's youngest female billionaire as well as the youngest woman to lead an initial public offering in the United States, at age 31.

In 2021, Wolfe Herd was named to Bloomberg's 50 Most Influential ranking. In 2022, Forbes listed Wolfe Herd at number 33 of its top 100 "America's richest self-made women".

In November 2023, Wolfe Herd announced she would enter the role of executive chair in January 2024, with Lidiane Jones stepping into the position of CEO of Bumble.

In May 2024, Wolfe Herd noted the potential for using artificial intelligence to assist in online dating.

In January 2025, Bumble announced that Wolfe Herd would return as CEO in mid-March, replacing Jones, who was stepping down for personal reasons. Wolfe Herd owns approximately 23 million shares of Bumble Inc.

From Wikipedia’s article on Whitney Wolfe Herd (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornJul 1, 1989, Salt Lake City10
  • CitizenshipUnited States11
  • Children212

In December 2013, she met oil and gas heir Michael Herd on a skiing trip in Aspen, Colorado. They married in 2017 in Positano, Italy. They have two sons, born in 2019 and 2022. The family lives in Austin, Texas.

The 2025 film Swiped is based on Wolfe Herd’s life and stars Lily James.

Advocacy

In March 2019, Wolfe Herd testified before the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence committee about the prevalence of unsolicited explicit photos sent to female users on dating applications.

From Wikipedia’s article on Whitney Wolfe Herd (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

In the news

8 recent articles from 4 outlets we read name Whitney Wolfe Herd. We match the full name, and check the article also names one of their companies or that they are well known.

  • Bumble shares soar after report dating firm in $1bn takeover talksBBC News, center, Oct 13, 2026…The BBC has contacted Bumble and Ithaca for comment. Bumble was launched in 2014 by Whitney Wolfe Herd, who was also a co-founder of dating app giant Tinder. Wolfe Herd built Bumble's brand around a distinctive feature that only allowed women to initiate conversations with matches. Dating apps like Bumble have come under pressure in recent years as some younger users have grown disillusioned with browsing for dates. Match Group - which owns apps including Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge - has also seen its shares fall sharply from their peak in 2021.
  • Austin-based Bumble reportedly nearing $1B saleDallas Morning News, Oct 13, 2026…has for years been the industry’s dominant player, with Bumble — a company founded with a women-first ethos by SMU grad Whitney Wolfe Herd — serving as its primary competitor. But after both companies surged to new heights during the pandem…
  • Bumble to go private in $1.3 billion dealKSL, Oct 13, 2026…grappling with weaker user engagement, particularly from younger users tired of endless swiping. Founded in 2014 by CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble pioneered the "women-first" approach to online dating. Under Herd, who returned as CEO in Mar…
  • Bumble swipes right on $1.3 billion go-private deal amid online dating industry resetKSL, Oct 13, 2026…the company was exploring a sale. Shares of the company soared 57% to $5.96 in premarket trading. Founded in 2014 by Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble pioneered the "women-first" approach to online dating. Under Herd, who returned as CEO in March…
  • Austin-based Bumble closes deal to sell for $1.3BDallas Morning News, Oct 13, 2026…Today, that belief feels more important than ever,” Whitney Wolfe Herd, the company’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. Wolfe Herd added that Ithaca Holdings “shares our vision, believes in our women-first mission, and is committed to i…
  • Dating app Bumble in advanced talks to go private at $1 billion valuation, source saysKSL, Oct 12, 2026…with weaker user engagement, particularly from younger Gen Z users tired of endless swiping. Founded in 2014 by CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble pioneered the "women-first" approach to online dating. Under Wolfe Herd, who returned to the CEO role in March 2025 after stepping down in January 2024, Bumble is overhauling its dating app with AI-powered features and new ways for users to connect as it seeks to revive growth. (Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)
  • Dating app Bumble in advanced talks to go private at $1 billion valuation, source saysKSL, Oct 12, 2026…"A change in ownership will not magically fix these fundamental problems." Founded in 2014 by CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble pioneered the "women-first" approach to online dating.
  • Bumble in talks for $1B take-private deal with Silicon Valley investment firm as dating app strugglesNew York Post, leans right, Oct 12, 2026…of roughly $580 million, up from $335 million at Friday’s close. The potential buyout comes as Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd struggles to revive the dating platform amid declining revenue and a shrinking base of paying users. Wolfe Herd, who co-founded Tinder before launching Bumble in 2014, is expected to remain involved with the company and roll over at least part of her ownership stake as part of the transaction, according to the Journal. The 37-year-old entrepreneur returned as Bumble’s chief executive in March 2025, a little more than a year after stepping down. Bumble reported second-quarter revenue of $210.5 million, down 15.2% from a year earlier, while its number of paying users plunged 16.4% to 3.2 million. The company posted a quarterly net loss of $127.9 million and ended June with roughly $154 million in cash. Bumble in August abandoned its signature requirement that women initiate conversations with male matches, allowing either person to send the first message as the dating app struggled to retain paying customers. At rival Match Group, Hinge posted a 22% jump in second-quarter revenue, even as the company’s flagship dating app Tinder struggled to regain momentum. Bumble laid off roughly 30% of its workforce last year, just months after Wolfe Herd returned as chief executive. Bumble was exploring a possible sale as early as June, with Morgan Stanley advising the company on strategic alternatives, Reuters reported at the time. Tinder co-founder Jonathan Badeen and former communications executive Rosette Pambakian were among those who challenged her account ahead of the release of “Swiped,” a Hulu film starring Lily James as Wolfe Herd, Page Six reported in September 2025.

Sources

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