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| known_for    = Founder of [[Bumble (app)|Bumble]], co-founder of [[Tinder (app)|Tinder]]
| known_for    = Founder of [[Bumble (app)|Bumble]], co-founder of [[Tinder (app)|Tinder]]
| children    = 2
| children    = 2
| awards      = ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' 100 Most Influential People (2018)
}}
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'''Whitney Wolfe Herd''' (née '''Wolfe'''; born July 1, 1989) is an American entrepreneur and business executive who founded the dating application [[Bumble (app)|Bumble]], a platform that distinguished itself by requiring women to initiate conversation in heterosexual matches. Before launching Bumble, Wolfe Herd was a co-founder of the dating app [[Tinder (app)|Tinder]], where she served as Vice President of Marketing and played a central role in the app's early growth and brand strategy.<ref>{{cite news |date=2015-04-12 |title=Can Bumble's Whitney Wolfe be the queen of dating? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/12/bumble-dating-app-women-call-shots-whitney-wolfe |work=The Guardian |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> Her departure from Tinder in 2014 was accompanied by a widely publicized sexual harassment lawsuit, after which she channeled her experiences into creating a new kind of social platform — one built around the principle that women should have the power to make the first move in online dating.<ref>{{cite news |date=2025-09-19 |title=The True Story Behind Swiped, Whitney Wolfe Herd, and the Birth of Bumble |url=https://time.com/7314564/swiped-true-story-whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble/ |work=Time |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> Bumble grew rapidly under her leadership, and when the company went public in February 2021, Wolfe Herd became one of the youngest women to take a company public on a U.S. stock exchange.<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2021-02-11 |title=Bumble IPO: CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd on BMBL stock, shares, and the app's initial public offering |url=https://fortune.com/2021/02/11/bumble-ipo-ceo-whitney-wolfe-herd-bmbl-stock-shares-interview-app-initial-public-offering/ |work=Fortune |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> She holds approximately 23 million shares in Bumble Inc. and has served as the company's founder, CEO, and executive chair.<ref>{{cite news |date=2025-05-10 |title='The Interview': Can Whitney Wolfe Herd Make Us Love Dating Apps Again? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/magazine/whitney-wolfe-herd-interview.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
'''Whitney Wolfe Herd''' (née '''Wolfe'''; born July 1, 1989) is an American entrepreneur and business executive who founded the dating application [[Bumble (app)|Bumble]] and serves as its executive chair and CEO. Before launching Bumble, she was a co-founder and Vice President of Marketing at [[Tinder (app)|Tinder]], where she played a central role in building one of the first mainstream mobile dating platforms. Wolfe Herd's departure from Tinder in 2014 was accompanied by a high-profile sexual harassment lawsuit that drew widespread attention to workplace culture in the technology industry. She subsequently founded Bumble, a dating app distinguished by its requirement that women initiate conversations in heterosexual matches — a design choice rooted in Wolfe Herd's stated goal of shifting power dynamics in online dating.<ref name="guardian">{{cite news |last=Garber |first=Megan |date=2015-04-12 |title=Bumble: the dating app where women call the shots |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/12/bumble-dating-app-women-call-shots-whitney-wolfe |work=The Guardian |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> In February 2021, Wolfe Herd took Bumble public on the [[Nasdaq]], becoming one of the youngest women to take a company public in the United States.<ref name="fortune-ipo">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2021-02-11 |title=Bumble IPO: CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd on BMBL stock, shares, and the app's initial public offering |url=https://fortune.com/2021/02/11/bumble-ipo-ceo-whitney-wolfe-herd-bmbl-stock-shares-interview-app-initial-public-offering/ |work=Fortune |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> She was named to the ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' 100 list of most influential people in 2018 and has been recognized as one of the most prominent figures in the technology and dating industries.<ref name="time100">{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe Herd: The 100 Most Influential People of 2018 |url=https://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217594/whitney-wolfe-herd/ |publisher=Time |date=2018 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


== Early Life ==
== Early Life ==


Whitney Wolfe was born on July 1, 1989, in [[Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe Herd: How she became the world's youngest female self-made billionaire |url=https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/whitney-wolfe-herd-became-worlds-youngest-female-self-made-billionaire/women-in-business/article/1707471 |publisher=Management Today |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> She grew up in the Salt Lake City area before eventually relocating to Texas for her higher education. Details about her family background and childhood remain relatively private; Wolfe Herd has spoken publicly in interviews primarily about her professional trajectory rather than her early upbringing.
Whitney Wolfe was born on July 1, 1989, in [[Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]].<ref name="biography">{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe Helped Make Tinder a Success. Then She Created Its Fiercest Competitor. |url=https://www.biography.com/business-leaders/a66106070/swiped-true-story-whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble |publisher=Biography |date=2025-09-22 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> She grew up in Utah before relocating to [[Texas]] for her higher education. Details about her family background and upbringing prior to college remain limited in publicly available sources.


While still a college student, Wolfe demonstrated entrepreneurial instincts. During her time at [[Southern Methodist University]] (SMU) in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], she launched a clothing line called Tender Heart, which sold bamboo tote bags and T-shirts to raise money for areas affected by the 2010 [[Deepwater Horizon oil spill]] and other environmental causes.<ref>{{cite web |title=SMU senior Whitney Wolfe launches second business, clothing line Tender Heart |url=http://www.smudailycampus.com/news/smu-senior-whitney-wolfe-launches-second-business-clothing-line-tender-heart |publisher=SMU Daily Campus |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> The venture, though modest in commercial scale, attracted some attention and foreshadowed Wolfe's capacity for merging business ventures with social causes — a pattern that would define her later career.
While still a student at [[Southern Methodist University]] (SMU) in [[Dallas]], Wolfe demonstrated entrepreneurial interests. She launched a clothing line called Tender Heart, which was covered by the university's campus newspaper, ''The SMU Daily Campus''.<ref name="smu">{{cite web |title=SMU Senior Whitney Wolfe Launches Second Business, Clothing Line Tender Heart |url=http://www.smudailycampus.com/news/smu-senior-whitney-wolfe-launches-second-business-clothing-line-tender-heart |publisher=SMU Daily Campus |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> The venture reflected Wolfe's early inclination toward building consumer-facing brands, a skill set she would later apply in the technology sector.
 
After completing her studies at SMU, Wolfe moved to [[Los Angeles]], where she entered the technology startup world. It was in this environment that she became involved with a group of entrepreneurs who were developing what would become Tinder, one of the most consequential mobile applications in the history of online dating.<ref name="bi-tinder">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2015-01 |title=Tinder Co-Founder Whitney Wolfe and Bumble |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/tinder-co-founder-whitney-wolfe-and-bumble-2015-1 |work=Business Insider |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


== Education ==
== Education ==


Wolfe Herd attended [[Southern Methodist University]] in Dallas, Texas, where she earned a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree.<ref>{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe Herd: How she became the world's youngest female self-made billionaire |url=https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/whitney-wolfe-herd-became-worlds-youngest-female-self-made-billionaire/women-in-business/article/1707471 |publisher=Management Today |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> Her time at SMU was formative in shaping her approach to business and technology. It was during her college years that she launched her first entrepreneurial project, the Tender Heart clothing line, and began developing the social networking instincts that would later guide her work at Tinder and Bumble.<ref>{{cite web |title=SMU senior Whitney Wolfe launches second business, clothing line Tender Heart |url=http://www.smudailycampus.com/news/smu-senior-whitney-wolfe-launches-second-business-clothing-line-tender-heart |publisher=SMU Daily Campus |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> Her undergraduate education at SMU also placed her within the broader Dallas social scene, which played a role in the early development and testing of Tinder's platform, as the app gained early traction in part through college campus marketing strategies that Wolfe helped design.
Wolfe Herd attended [[Southern Methodist University]] (SMU) in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], where she earned a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree.<ref name="smu" /> During her time at SMU, she was involved in entrepreneurial activities, including the launch of a clothing line. Her time at the university coincided with a period of growing interest in mobile technology and social networking platforms, and her post-graduation career trajectory led her directly into the technology startup ecosystem of [[Los Angeles]].<ref name="bi-tinder" />


== Career ==
== Career ==


=== Tinder ===
=== Tinder (2012–2014) ===
 
In 2012, Whitney Wolfe joined a team of entrepreneurs working on a mobile dating application that would become [[Tinder (app)|Tinder]].<ref name="biography" /> She served as the company's Vice President of Marketing and is credited as a co-founder of the app. In her marketing role, Wolfe was instrumental in driving early user adoption of Tinder, particularly among college-aged users. She reportedly traveled to university campuses to promote the app, a grassroots marketing strategy that helped Tinder gain rapid traction among young adults.<ref name="nyt-2017">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2017-03-18 |title=Bumble, the Feminist Dating App, and Whitney Wolfe |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/fashion/bumble-feminist-dating-app-whitney-wolfe.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
 
Tinder's introduction of the "swipe right" mechanic to indicate interest in a potential match fundamentally changed the landscape of online dating, transforming it from a desktop-centric activity into a mobile-first social experience.<ref name="nyt-interview-2025">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2025-05-10 |title='The Interview': Can Whitney Wolfe Herd Make Us Love Dating Apps Again? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/magazine/whitney-wolfe-herd-interview.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> The app grew to become one of the most downloaded applications worldwide, and Wolfe's marketing contributions were a significant factor in its early success.<ref name="biography" />
 
However, Wolfe's tenure at Tinder ended acrimoniously. In June 2014, she filed a lawsuit against Tinder and its parent company, alleging sexual harassment and discrimination by co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer Justin Mateen, as well as other senior executives at the company.<ref name="heavy">{{cite web |title=Tinder Whitney Wolfe Sean Rad Justin Mateen Sexual Harassment Suit |url=http://heavy.com/tech/2014/07/tinder-whitney-wolfe-sean-rad-justin-mateen-sexual-harassment-suit/ |publisher=Heavy |date=2014-07 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> The lawsuit alleged that Mateen had sent Wolfe threatening and derogatory text messages and that she had been stripped of her co-founder title because the company's leadership felt that having a young female co-founder "ichael make the company look like a joke."<ref name="heavy" />
 
The case attracted significant media attention and became one of the earliest high-profile sexual harassment claims in [[Silicon Valley]]'s technology industry, predating the broader [[Me Too movement]] by several years.<ref name="wapo-2015">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2015-12-02 |title=Whitney Wolfe, founder of dating app Bumble, has had quite the year. She just can't discuss parts of it. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/12/02/whitney-wolfe-founder-of-dating-app-bumble-has-had-quite-the-year-she-just-cant-discuss-parts-of-it/ |work=The Washington Post |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> In November 2014, the lawsuit was settled for a reported sum of just over one million dollars. As part of the settlement, Wolfe was prohibited from publicly discussing many details of the case.<ref name="bi-settle">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2014-11 |title=Whitney Wolfe Settles Sexual Harassment Tinder Lawsuit for $1 Million |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/whitney-wolfe-settles-sexual-harassment-tinder-lawsuit-1-million-2014-11 |work=Business Insider |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref><ref name="wapo-2015" /> Mateen was suspended from Tinder following the public disclosure of the lawsuit.<ref name="heavy" />
 
=== Founding of Bumble (2014) ===


After completing her studies at SMU, Wolfe joined the team that would build [[Tinder (app)|Tinder]], one of the most influential mobile dating applications of the 2010s. She served as a co-founder and Vice President of Marketing at the company.<ref>{{cite news |date=2022-09-22 |title=Whitney Wolfe Helped Make Tinder a Success. Then She Created Its Fiercest Competitor. |url=https://www.biography.com/business-leaders/a66106070/swiped-true-story-whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble |work=Biography |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> In that role, Wolfe was instrumental in popularizing Tinder among college students through a grassroots marketing strategy that involved visiting university campuses and encouraging students to download the app.<ref>{{cite news |date=2015-01-29 |title=Whitney Wolfe says goodbye to Tinder, hello to Bumble |url=http://www.labusinessjournal.com/news/2015/jan/29/whitney-wolfe-says-goodbye-tinder-hello-bumble/ |work=Los Angeles Business Journal |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> Wolfe's campus-centric approach helped Tinder achieve rapid user growth, particularly among young adults, and established the swipe-based dating model that would transform the industry.
Following her departure from Tinder, Wolfe Herd initially considered stepping away from the dating app industry entirely. However, she was approached by [[Andrey Andreev]], the Russian-British entrepreneur and founder of the social networking platform [[Badoo]], who proposed a partnership to build a new dating application.<ref name="forbes-billion">{{cite news |last=O'Connor |first=Clare |date=2017-11-14 |title=Billion-Dollar Bumble: How Whitney Wolfe Herd Built America's Fastest-Growing Dating App |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2017/11/14/billion-dollar-bumble-how-whitney-wolfe-herd-built-americas-fastest-growing-dating-app/#1cb7bf24248b |work=Forbes |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


However, Wolfe's tenure at Tinder ended acrimoniously. In June 2014, she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the company, alleging that she had been subjected to sexist and harassing behavior by co-founder Justin Mateen and that she had been stripped of her co-founder title.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe and Sean Rad, Justin Mateen sexual harassment suit |url=http://heavy.com/tech/2014/07/tinder-whitney-wolfe-sean-rad-justin-mateen-sexual-harassment-suit/ |publisher=Heavy |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> The lawsuit generated substantial media coverage and public attention, bringing broader conversations about sexism in the technology industry into sharp focus. In November 2014, the case was settled for a reported sum of just over $1 million, and Wolfe was bound by the terms of the settlement not to discuss certain details of the arrangement publicly.<ref>{{cite news |date=2014-11 |title=Whitney Wolfe settles sexual harassment Tinder lawsuit for $1 million |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/whitney-wolfe-settles-sexual-harassment-tinder-lawsuit-1-million-2014-11 |work=Business Insider |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2015-12-02 |title=Whitney Wolfe, founder of dating app Bumble, has had quite the year. She just can't discuss parts of it. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/12/02/whitney-wolfe-founder-of-dating-app-bumble-has-had-quite-the-year-she-just-cant-discuss-parts-of-it/ |work=The Washington Post |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Wolfe Herd founded Bumble in 2014, headquartering the company in [[Austin]], [[Texas]].<ref name="atxwoman">{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe |url=https://atxwoman.com/whitney-wolfe/ |publisher=ATX Woman |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> The app's defining feature was its requirement that women make the first move in heterosexual matches — a design choice intended to address what Wolfe Herd described as the pervasive problem of unwanted messages and harassment that women experienced on other dating platforms.<ref name="guardian" /> In conversations with same-sex matches, either party could initiate contact.


The experience at Tinder proved to be a turning point in Wolfe's career. Rather than retreating from the technology industry, she channeled the difficulties she had experienced into a new venture, one that would center the experiences of women in online dating.
Wolfe Herd has stated that her original vision for Bumble extended beyond dating. Speaking at [[South by Southwest]] (SXSW) in 2018, she said, "What I originally wanted to do with Bumble is rewrite the Internet," attributing the company's success to its fundamental belief that women should be able to make the "first move" in romantic connections.<ref name="sxsw">{{cite web |title="What I originally wanted to do with Bumble is rewrite the Internet." - Whitney Wolfe Herd |url=https://sxsw.com/interactive/2018/sxsw-2018-featured-speaker-whitney-wolfe-herd-in-conversation-with-gayle-king-video/ |publisher=SXSW |date=2018 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


=== Founding of Bumble ===
The app distinguished itself in a crowded dating app market through this women-first approach, as well as through features such as time-limited matches (conversations expired if not initiated within 24 hours) and photo verification. Bumble grew rapidly, attracting millions of users and establishing itself as the primary competitor to Tinder in the United States.<ref name="forbes-billion" /><ref name="vf-bumble">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2015-08 |title=Bumble App: Whitney Wolfe |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/08/bumble-app-whitney-wolfe |work=Vanity Fair |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


In 2014, shortly after leaving Tinder, Wolfe Herd founded [[Bumble (app)|Bumble]], a dating application with a distinctive feature: in heterosexual matches, only the woman could initiate a conversation. This "women make the first move" model was designed to address some of the dynamics that Wolfe Herd had observed and experienced in both the online dating world and the technology industry more broadly.<ref>{{cite news |date=2015-04-12 |title=Can Bumble's Whitney Wolfe be the queen of dating? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/12/bumble-dating-app-women-call-shots-whitney-wolfe |work=The Guardian |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> In founding Bumble, Wolfe Herd partnered with [[Badoo]] founder Andrey Andreev, who provided funding and infrastructure through the company's parent entity.
=== Expanding Bumble Beyond Dating ===


Speaking at [[SXSW]] in 2018, Wolfe Herd described her broader ambitions for the platform: "What I originally wanted to do with Bumble is rewrite the Internet," she said, attributing the company's success to its fundamental belief that women should be empowered to make the first move in romantic connections.<ref>{{cite web |title=SXSW 2018 Featured Speaker: Whitney Wolfe Herd in Conversation with Gayle King |url=https://sxsw.com/interactive/2018/sxsw-2018-featured-speaker-whitney-wolfe-herd-in-conversation-with-gayle-king-video/ |publisher=SXSW |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Under Wolfe Herd's leadership, Bumble expanded beyond romantic connections. The platform introduced Bumble BFF, a feature for finding platonic friendships, and Bumble Bizz, a networking tool designed to facilitate professional connections. These additions reflected Wolfe Herd's broader ambition to create a platform that addressed multiple dimensions of human connection, not solely dating.<ref name="npr">{{cite web |title=NPR Transcript: Whitney Wolfe Herd |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=557437086 |publisher=NPR |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


Bumble quickly grew into one of the most popular dating applications in the United States and expanded internationally. The app's design was credited with reducing instances of unsolicited and harassing messages that women commonly received on other platforms. The platform also expanded beyond romantic dating to include features for finding friends (Bumble BFF) and business networking (Bumble Bizz).<ref>{{cite news |date=2017-11-14 |title=Billion-Dollar Bumble: How Whitney Wolfe Herd Built America's Fastest-Growing Dating App |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2017/11/14/billion-dollar-bumble-how-whitney-wolfe-herd-built-americas-fastest-growing-dating-app/#1cb7bf24248b |work=Forbes |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Wolfe Herd also advocated for legislative changes aimed at curbing online harassment. She worked with legislators in Texas to support a bill that would outlaw unsolicited sexually explicit images, a common form of harassment on dating platforms. The effort reflected her stated commitment to using technology and policy to create safer digital spaces.<ref name="texasmonthly">{{cite news |last= |first= |date= |title=Texas May Outlaw Unsolicited Sexual Images. Would That Be Enforceable, and Does It Even Matter? |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/texas-may-outlaw-unsolicited-sexual-images-would-that-be-enforceable-and-does-it-even-matter/ |work=Texas Monthly |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


Wolfe Herd also used Bumble's platform to advocate for legislative change. She was involved in efforts in Texas to outlaw unsolicited sexually explicit images, a practice commonly referred to as "cyberflashing." Bumble's advocacy contributed to Texas passing legislation addressing the issue.<ref>{{cite news |title=Texas May Outlaw Unsolicited Sexual Images. Would That Be Enforceable—and Does It Even Matter? |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/texas-may-outlaw-unsolicited-sexual-images-would-that-be-enforceable-and-does-it-even-matter/ |work=Texas Monthly |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
By 2017, ''Forbes'' described Bumble as "America's fastest-growing dating app," noting its billion-dollar valuation and its emergence as a major force in the technology and social media industries.<ref name="forbes-billion" />


=== Bumble IPO and Growth ===
=== Bumble IPO and Public Company Leadership ===


On February 11, 2021, Bumble Inc. went public on the [[Nasdaq]] stock exchange under the ticker symbol BMBL. The [[initial public offering]] was a landmark moment for both the company and for Wolfe Herd personally. At the time of the IPO, she was one of the youngest female CEOs to take a company public in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |date=2021-02-11 |title=Bumble IPO: CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd on BMBL stock, shares, and the app's initial public offering |url=https://fortune.com/2021/02/11/bumble-ipo-ceo-whitney-wolfe-herd-bmbl-stock-shares-interview-app-initial-public-offering/ |work=Fortune |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> Following the IPO, Wolfe Herd's personal stake in the company made her the youngest self-made female billionaire, according to reporting by Management Today and other publications.<ref>{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe Herd: How she became the world's youngest female self-made billionaire |url=https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/whitney-wolfe-herd-became-worlds-youngest-female-self-made-billionaire/women-in-business/article/1707471 |publisher=Management Today |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
On February 11, 2021, Bumble, Inc. went public on the [[Nasdaq]] stock exchange under the ticker symbol BMBL. The initial public offering (IPO) was a landmark event that made Wolfe Herd, at age 31, one of the youngest women to take a company public in the United States.<ref name="fortune-ipo" /> The IPO was also notable because Wolfe Herd was the youngest woman to serve as CEO of a publicly traded company at the time.<ref name="mgmt-today">{{cite web |title=How Whitney Wolfe Herd became the world's youngest female self-made billionaire |url=https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/whitney-wolfe-herd-became-worlds-youngest-female-self-made-billionaire/women-in-business/article/1707471 |publisher=Management Today |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


The IPO demonstrated investor confidence in Bumble's business model, which by that time had grown beyond dating to encompass a broader social networking platform. Wolfe Herd described the public offering as a validation of the company's mission, telling Fortune that the moment was about much more than a financial milestone.<ref>{{cite news |date=2021-02-11 |title=Bumble IPO: CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd on BMBL stock, shares, and the app's initial public offering |url=https://fortune.com/2021/02/11/bumble-ipo-ceo-whitney-wolfe-herd-bmbl-stock-shares-interview-app-initial-public-offering/ |work=Fortune |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
On its first day of trading, Bumble's share price surged significantly, and the company's market capitalization reached approximately $13 billion. The strong debut made Wolfe Herd a billionaire, with ''Management Today'' reporting that she became the world's youngest female self-made billionaire.<ref name="mgmt-today" /> She owns approximately 23 million shares of Bumble, Inc.


=== Leadership Transition and Return ===
=== Departure and Return as CEO ===


After leading Bumble as CEO through its IPO and subsequent growth phase, Wolfe Herd transitioned to the role of executive chair. However, by 2025, she had returned to the role of CEO amid challenges facing the dating app industry, particularly declining engagement among younger users, sometimes referred to as [[Generation Z]].<ref>{{cite news |date=2025-05-10 |title='The Interview': Can Whitney Wolfe Herd Make Us Love Dating Apps Again? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/magazine/whitney-wolfe-herd-interview.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> In a 2025 interview with ''The New York Times'', Wolfe Herd acknowledged the shifting landscape of dating apps and expressed her intent to revitalize the platform for a new generation of users. She reflected that when she co-founded Tinder, "the overwhelming feeling about apps and screens and tech in general was optimism," a sentiment she sought to recapture.<ref>{{cite news |date=2025-05-10 |title='The Interview': Can Whitney Wolfe Herd Make Us Love Dating Apps Again? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/magazine/whitney-wolfe-herd-interview.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
After leading Bumble through its IPO and early years as a public company, Wolfe Herd stepped back from the day-to-day CEO role. However, by 2025, she returned to active leadership of the company amid challenges facing the dating app industry more broadly. In a May 2025 interview with ''The New York Times'', she discussed her plans for reinvigorating Bumble and addressing a decline in dating app usage among [[Generation Z]].<ref name="nyt-interview-2025" />


In an August 2025 interview with ''The Wall Street Journal'', Wolfe Herd discussed her evolving vision for Bumble, including integrating [[artificial intelligence]] into the platform to reshape how users form connections and relationships. She also disclosed a personal anecdote that she would never have swiped right on her own husband using traditional dating app mechanics, suggesting that many happy couples may not have found each other through the conventional matching systems that define modern dating apps.<ref>{{cite news |date=2025-08-29 |title=Whitney Wolfe Herd Has a New Idea for Bumble—and All Our Relationships |url=https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble-ai-398779bb |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
In an August 2025 interview with ''The Wall Street Journal'', Wolfe Herd discussed new directions for Bumble, including the integration of [[artificial intelligence]] into the platform's matchmaking capabilities. She made the notable confession that she "would never have swiped right on her husband," suggesting that traditional swipe-based mechanics may be insufficient for creating meaningful connections and that AI could play a role in improving outcomes for users.<ref name="wsj-2025">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2025-08-29 |title=Exclusive: Whitney Wolfe Herd Has a New Idea for Bumble—and All Our Relationships |url=https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble-ai-398779bb |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


In a separate conversation with ''Time'' magazine, Wolfe Herd articulated her broader goal of using technology to address what she described as a growing loneliness epidemic, positioning Bumble not merely as a dating app but as a tool for fostering meaningful human connections across multiple dimensions of life.<ref>{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe Herd Wants Technology to Cure Loneliness |url=https://time.com/collections/person-of-the-week-podcast/6289603/whitney-wolfe-herd-interview-person-of-the-week/ |publisher=Time |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Wolfe Herd has stated that she views the challenge of modern loneliness as a central problem that technology can help address. In a ''Time'' interview, she discussed her belief that technology, when designed thoughtfully, can serve as a cure for loneliness rather than a contributor to it.<ref name="time-loneliness">{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe Herd Wants Technology to Cure Loneliness |url=https://time.com/collections/person-of-the-week-podcast/6289603/whitney-wolfe-herd-interview-person-of-the-week/ |publisher=Time |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


== Personal Life ==
== Personal Life ==


Whitney Wolfe Herd resides in [[Austin, Texas]], where Bumble is headquartered.<ref>{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe — Austin Woman Magazine |url=https://atxwoman.com/whitney-wolfe/ |publisher=ATX Woman |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> She has two children.<ref>{{cite news |date=2025-05-10 |title='The Interview': Can Whitney Wolfe Herd Make Us Love Dating Apps Again? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/magazine/whitney-wolfe-herd-interview.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> In a 2025 interview with ''The Wall Street Journal'', she referenced her husband while discussing the limitations of swipe-based dating, noting she would not have matched with him using traditional dating app methods.<ref>{{cite news |date=2025-08-29 |title=Whitney Wolfe Herd Has a New Idea for Bumble—and All Our Relationships |url=https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble-ai-398779bb |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Whitney Wolfe Herd is based in [[Austin]], [[Texas]], where Bumble is headquartered.<ref name="atxwoman" /> She has two children. Wolfe Herd has been open about the challenges of balancing leadership of a major technology company with parenthood, a topic she has discussed in various media interviews.
 
Details about Wolfe Herd's personal relationships have been addressed in media coverage primarily in the context of her professional narrative. In her 2025 interview with ''The Wall Street Journal'', she referenced her husband, noting that the couple's connection illustrated the limitations of algorithm-based matching and swiping mechanics.<ref name="wsj-2025" />


Wolfe Herd has spoken publicly about the personal toll of the Tinder lawsuit and its aftermath, which she has described as a difficult period that ultimately shaped her determination to build a company centered on safety and respect for women in digital spaces.<ref>{{cite news |date=2015-12-02 |title=Whitney Wolfe, founder of dating app Bumble, has had quite the year. She just can't discuss parts of it. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/12/02/whitney-wolfe-founder-of-dating-app-bumble-has-had-quite-the-year-she-just-cant-discuss-parts-of-it/ |work=The Washington Post |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> She has been based in Texas since her college years at SMU and has maintained a relatively private personal life outside of her professional public appearances.
Much of Wolfe Herd's public profile has been shaped by her experience at Tinder and the subsequent lawsuit. Due to the terms of her 2014 settlement with Tinder, she has been restricted from publicly discussing many details of that period, a limitation she acknowledged in a 2015 interview with ''The Washington Post''.<ref name="wapo-2015" />


== Recognition ==
== Recognition ==


Wolfe Herd has received recognition from multiple major media outlets for her role in reshaping the online dating industry and for her broader contributions to technology and women's empowerment.
Wolfe Herd has received numerous honors and accolades throughout her career. In 2014, ''Business Insider'' named her one of the "30 Most Important Women Under 30 in Tech."<ref name="bi-30">{{cite web |title=30 Most Important Women Under 30 in Tech |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/30-most-important-women-under-30-in-tech-2014-2014-8 |publisher=Business Insider |date=2014-08 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


In 2018, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' named her to its annual list of the 100 Most Influential People, recognizing her impact on technology and social dynamics through Bumble.<ref>{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe Herd — TIME 100 Most Influential People 2018 |url=https://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217594/whitney-wolfe-herd/ |publisher=Time |date=2018 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> The inclusion reflected the growing cultural significance of Bumble's "women first" model and Wolfe Herd's public profile as a technology executive.
In 2018, ''Time'' magazine included Wolfe Herd on its annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the world, recognizing her impact on the technology and dating industries.<ref name="time100" /> Her inclusion on the list acknowledged both the commercial success of Bumble and its cultural significance as a platform that shifted norms around gender dynamics in online dating.


In 2014, prior to founding Bumble, ''Business Insider'' included Wolfe on its list of the 30 Most Important Women Under 30 in Technology, recognizing her contributions at Tinder and her growing influence in the technology sector.<ref>{{cite web |title=30 Most Important Women Under 30 in Tech |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/30-most-important-women-under-30-in-tech-2014-2014-8 |publisher=Business Insider |date=2014 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Following the Bumble IPO in 2021, Wolfe Herd received widespread recognition as one of the youngest women to lead a company to a public offering and was described as the world's youngest female self-made billionaire by multiple publications.<ref name="mgmt-today" /><ref name="fortune-ipo" />


Forbes profiled Wolfe Herd in 2017 in a feature describing Bumble as "America's fastest-growing dating app," noting the company's rapid expansion and its unique market position.<ref>{{cite news |date=2017-11-14 |title=Billion-Dollar Bumble: How Whitney Wolfe Herd Built America's Fastest-Growing Dating App |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2017/11/14/billion-dollar-bumble-how-whitney-wolfe-herd-built-americas-fastest-growing-dating-app/#1cb7bf24248b |work=Forbes |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
''Paper'' magazine, ''Grazia'', and numerous other publications have profiled Wolfe Herd extensively, with coverage focusing on her role in transforming the dating app industry and her advocacy for women's safety in digital spaces.<ref name="paper">{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe Bumble |url=http://www.papermag.com/whitney-wolfe-bumble-it-girls-1647547057.html |publisher=Paper |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref><ref name="grazia">{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe: Tinder to Bumble |url=https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/real-life/whitney-wolfe-tinder-bumble/ |publisher=Grazia |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


Following the Bumble IPO in 2021, Management Today and other publications noted that Wolfe Herd had become the youngest self-made female billionaire, a distinction that generated significant media attention.<ref>{{cite web |title=Whitney Wolfe Herd: How she became the world's youngest female self-made billionaire |url=https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/whitney-wolfe-herd-became-worlds-youngest-female-self-made-billionaire/women-in-business/article/1707471 |publisher=Management Today |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
In 2025, Wolfe Herd's story was adapted into the Hulu film ''Swiped'', which dramatized her experiences at Tinder and the founding of Bumble. ''Time'' magazine and other outlets covered the film, noting its portrayal of the events that led to the creation of one of the world's most prominent dating platforms.<ref name="time-swiped">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2025-09-19 |title=The True Story Behind Swiped, Whitney Wolfe Herd, and the Birth of Bumble |url=https://time.com/7314564/swiped-true-story-whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble/ |work=Time |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> ''Fortune'' reported on the film's focus, noting that ''Swiped'' concentrated primarily on Wolfe Herd's time at Tinder rather than her subsequent work building Bumble.<ref name="fortune-swiped">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=2025-09-29 |title='Swiped' movie misses Bumble's story |url=https://fortune.com/2025/09/29/swiped-bumble-movie-tinder-whitney-wolfe-herd/ |work=Fortune |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


In 2025, a Hulu film titled ''Swiped'' dramatized elements of Wolfe Herd's story, focusing primarily on her time at Tinder. The film brought renewed public attention to her role in the founding of both Tinder and Bumble, though some commentators noted that the movie focused more heavily on the Tinder era than on Bumble's development.<ref>{{cite news |date=2025-09-29 |title='Swiped' movie misses Bumble's story |url=https://fortune.com/2025/09/29/swiped-bumble-movie-tinder-whitney-wolfe-herd/ |work=Fortune |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2025-09-19 |title=The True Story Behind Swiped, Whitney Wolfe Herd, and the Birth of Bumble |url=https://time.com/7314564/swiped-true-story-whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble/ |work=Time |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
== Legacy ==


== Legacy ==
Whitney Wolfe Herd's career has been defined by two major contributions to the technology industry: her role in co-founding Tinder, which introduced swipe-based mobile dating to a mainstream audience, and her creation of Bumble, which introduced a women-first model to the dating app ecosystem.<ref name="biography" /><ref name="nyt-interview-2025" />


Whitney Wolfe Herd's career has been defined by her role in the creation of two of the most consequential dating applications of the 2010s and 2020s. As a co-founder of Tinder, she was part of the team that popularized swipe-based mobile dating and transformed the way millions of people initiate romantic connections. As the founder of Bumble, she introduced a structural innovation — women initiating contact — that influenced the design of numerous subsequent dating platforms and challenged established norms in the online dating industry.<ref>{{cite news |date=2017-03-18 |title=Bumble, the feminist dating app, is having a moment |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/fashion/bumble-feminist-dating-app-whitney-wolfe.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Bumble's design principle — requiring women to initiate contact — represented a deliberate challenge to the norms of online dating, where women often reported being overwhelmed by unsolicited messages. The app's approach influenced the broader dating industry, with competitors subsequently introducing features aimed at giving users, particularly women, more control over their experience.<ref name="guardian" /><ref name="nyt-2017" />


Bumble's model of empowering women to make the first move has been analyzed and discussed in the context of broader conversations about gender dynamics in technology and digital culture. The app's success demonstrated commercial viability for a product explicitly designed around feminist principles, a combination that had been viewed with skepticism by some investors and industry observers prior to Bumble's rapid growth.<ref>{{cite news |date=2015-08 |title=Bumble app: Whitney Wolfe |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/08/bumble-app-whitney-wolfe |work=Vanity Fair |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Wolfe Herd's sexual harassment lawsuit against Tinder in 2014 also had a lasting impact on the technology industry's reckoning with workplace culture. Filed years before the [[Me Too movement]] brought widespread attention to sexual harassment and discrimination, the case was among the first high-profile lawsuits to publicly challenge the behavior of executives at a major Silicon Valley startup.<ref name="wapo-2015" /><ref name="heavy" />


Wolfe Herd's public advocacy for legislation against unsolicited explicit images contributed to concrete legislative outcomes in Texas and added a policy dimension to her work in the technology sector.<ref>{{cite news |title=Texas May Outlaw Unsolicited Sexual Images. Would That Be Enforceable—and Does It Even Matter? |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/texas-may-outlaw-unsolicited-sexual-images-would-that-be-enforceable-and-does-it-even-matter/ |work=Texas Monthly |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> Her trajectory — from the Tinder sexual harassment lawsuit to the founding and IPO of Bumble — has been cited in media coverage as emblematic of broader patterns of women in the technology industry confronting systemic challenges and building alternatives.<ref>{{cite news |date=2022-09-22 |title=Whitney Wolfe Helped Make Tinder a Success. Then She Created Its Fiercest Competitor. |url=https://www.biography.com/business-leaders/a66106070/swiped-true-story-whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble |work=Biography |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Her legislative advocacy for laws against unsolicited sexually explicit images — often referred to as cyberflashing — contributed to broader discussions about digital harassment and the responsibilities of technology platforms in protecting users.<ref name="texasmonthly" />


As of 2025, Wolfe Herd continues to shape the direction of Bumble, navigating the evolving landscape of dating technology, the integration of artificial intelligence, and the challenge of engaging a new generation of users who have grown skeptical of traditional dating apps.<ref>{{cite news |date=2025-08-29 |title=Whitney Wolfe Herd Has a New Idea for Bumble—and All Our Relationships |url=https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble-ai-398779bb |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
As of 2025, Wolfe Herd continues to lead Bumble as the company navigates a rapidly changing landscape in which dating app fatigue, particularly among younger users, poses a significant challenge. Her stated focus on integrating artificial intelligence and addressing the broader societal issue of loneliness reflects an evolution in her thinking about the role of technology in human connection.<ref name="wsj-2025" /><ref name="time-loneliness" />


== References ==
== References ==
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Latest revision as of 01:48, 24 February 2026


Whitney Wolfe Herd
Wolfe Herd in 2018
Whitney Wolfe Herd
BornWhitney Wolfe
1 7, 1989
BirthplaceSalt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationEntrepreneur, business executive
Known forFounder of Bumble, co-founder of Tinder
EducationSouthern Methodist University (BA)
Children2
AwardsTime 100 Most Influential People (2018)

Whitney Wolfe Herd (née Wolfe; born July 1, 1989) is an American entrepreneur and business executive who founded the dating application Bumble and serves as its executive chair and CEO. Before launching Bumble, she was a co-founder and Vice President of Marketing at Tinder, where she played a central role in building one of the first mainstream mobile dating platforms. Wolfe Herd's departure from Tinder in 2014 was accompanied by a high-profile sexual harassment lawsuit that drew widespread attention to workplace culture in the technology industry. She subsequently founded Bumble, a dating app distinguished by its requirement that women initiate conversations in heterosexual matches — a design choice rooted in Wolfe Herd's stated goal of shifting power dynamics in online dating.[1] In February 2021, Wolfe Herd took Bumble public on the Nasdaq, becoming one of the youngest women to take a company public in the United States.[2] She was named to the Time 100 list of most influential people in 2018 and has been recognized as one of the most prominent figures in the technology and dating industries.[3]

Early Life

Whitney Wolfe was born on July 1, 1989, in Salt Lake City, Utah.[4] She grew up in Utah before relocating to Texas for her higher education. Details about her family background and upbringing prior to college remain limited in publicly available sources.

While still a student at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Wolfe demonstrated entrepreneurial interests. She launched a clothing line called Tender Heart, which was covered by the university's campus newspaper, The SMU Daily Campus.[5] The venture reflected Wolfe's early inclination toward building consumer-facing brands, a skill set she would later apply in the technology sector.

After completing her studies at SMU, Wolfe moved to Los Angeles, where she entered the technology startup world. It was in this environment that she became involved with a group of entrepreneurs who were developing what would become Tinder, one of the most consequential mobile applications in the history of online dating.[6]

Education

Wolfe Herd attended Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.[5] During her time at SMU, she was involved in entrepreneurial activities, including the launch of a clothing line. Her time at the university coincided with a period of growing interest in mobile technology and social networking platforms, and her post-graduation career trajectory led her directly into the technology startup ecosystem of Los Angeles.[6]

Career

Tinder (2012–2014)

In 2012, Whitney Wolfe joined a team of entrepreneurs working on a mobile dating application that would become Tinder.[4] She served as the company's Vice President of Marketing and is credited as a co-founder of the app. In her marketing role, Wolfe was instrumental in driving early user adoption of Tinder, particularly among college-aged users. She reportedly traveled to university campuses to promote the app, a grassroots marketing strategy that helped Tinder gain rapid traction among young adults.[7]

Tinder's introduction of the "swipe right" mechanic to indicate interest in a potential match fundamentally changed the landscape of online dating, transforming it from a desktop-centric activity into a mobile-first social experience.[8] The app grew to become one of the most downloaded applications worldwide, and Wolfe's marketing contributions were a significant factor in its early success.[4]

However, Wolfe's tenure at Tinder ended acrimoniously. In June 2014, she filed a lawsuit against Tinder and its parent company, alleging sexual harassment and discrimination by co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer Justin Mateen, as well as other senior executives at the company.[9] The lawsuit alleged that Mateen had sent Wolfe threatening and derogatory text messages and that she had been stripped of her co-founder title because the company's leadership felt that having a young female co-founder "ichael make the company look like a joke."[9]

The case attracted significant media attention and became one of the earliest high-profile sexual harassment claims in Silicon Valley's technology industry, predating the broader Me Too movement by several years.[10] In November 2014, the lawsuit was settled for a reported sum of just over one million dollars. As part of the settlement, Wolfe was prohibited from publicly discussing many details of the case.[11][10] Mateen was suspended from Tinder following the public disclosure of the lawsuit.[9]

Founding of Bumble (2014)

Following her departure from Tinder, Wolfe Herd initially considered stepping away from the dating app industry entirely. However, she was approached by Andrey Andreev, the Russian-British entrepreneur and founder of the social networking platform Badoo, who proposed a partnership to build a new dating application.[12]

Wolfe Herd founded Bumble in 2014, headquartering the company in Austin, Texas.[13] The app's defining feature was its requirement that women make the first move in heterosexual matches — a design choice intended to address what Wolfe Herd described as the pervasive problem of unwanted messages and harassment that women experienced on other dating platforms.[1] In conversations with same-sex matches, either party could initiate contact.

Wolfe Herd has stated that her original vision for Bumble extended beyond dating. Speaking at South by Southwest (SXSW) in 2018, she said, "What I originally wanted to do with Bumble is rewrite the Internet," attributing the company's success to its fundamental belief that women should be able to make the "first move" in romantic connections.[14]

The app distinguished itself in a crowded dating app market through this women-first approach, as well as through features such as time-limited matches (conversations expired if not initiated within 24 hours) and photo verification. Bumble grew rapidly, attracting millions of users and establishing itself as the primary competitor to Tinder in the United States.[12][15]

Expanding Bumble Beyond Dating

Under Wolfe Herd's leadership, Bumble expanded beyond romantic connections. The platform introduced Bumble BFF, a feature for finding platonic friendships, and Bumble Bizz, a networking tool designed to facilitate professional connections. These additions reflected Wolfe Herd's broader ambition to create a platform that addressed multiple dimensions of human connection, not solely dating.[16]

Wolfe Herd also advocated for legislative changes aimed at curbing online harassment. She worked with legislators in Texas to support a bill that would outlaw unsolicited sexually explicit images, a common form of harassment on dating platforms. The effort reflected her stated commitment to using technology and policy to create safer digital spaces.[17]

By 2017, Forbes described Bumble as "America's fastest-growing dating app," noting its billion-dollar valuation and its emergence as a major force in the technology and social media industries.[12]

Bumble IPO and Public Company Leadership

On February 11, 2021, Bumble, Inc. went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol BMBL. The initial public offering (IPO) was a landmark event that made Wolfe Herd, at age 31, one of the youngest women to take a company public in the United States.[2] The IPO was also notable because Wolfe Herd was the youngest woman to serve as CEO of a publicly traded company at the time.[18]

On its first day of trading, Bumble's share price surged significantly, and the company's market capitalization reached approximately $13 billion. The strong debut made Wolfe Herd a billionaire, with Management Today reporting that she became the world's youngest female self-made billionaire.[18] She owns approximately 23 million shares of Bumble, Inc.

Departure and Return as CEO

After leading Bumble through its IPO and early years as a public company, Wolfe Herd stepped back from the day-to-day CEO role. However, by 2025, she returned to active leadership of the company amid challenges facing the dating app industry more broadly. In a May 2025 interview with The New York Times, she discussed her plans for reinvigorating Bumble and addressing a decline in dating app usage among Generation Z.[8]

In an August 2025 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Wolfe Herd discussed new directions for Bumble, including the integration of artificial intelligence into the platform's matchmaking capabilities. She made the notable confession that she "would never have swiped right on her husband," suggesting that traditional swipe-based mechanics may be insufficient for creating meaningful connections and that AI could play a role in improving outcomes for users.[19]

Wolfe Herd has stated that she views the challenge of modern loneliness as a central problem that technology can help address. In a Time interview, she discussed her belief that technology, when designed thoughtfully, can serve as a cure for loneliness rather than a contributor to it.[20]

Personal Life

Whitney Wolfe Herd is based in Austin, Texas, where Bumble is headquartered.[13] She has two children. Wolfe Herd has been open about the challenges of balancing leadership of a major technology company with parenthood, a topic she has discussed in various media interviews.

Details about Wolfe Herd's personal relationships have been addressed in media coverage primarily in the context of her professional narrative. In her 2025 interview with The Wall Street Journal, she referenced her husband, noting that the couple's connection illustrated the limitations of algorithm-based matching and swiping mechanics.[19]

Much of Wolfe Herd's public profile has been shaped by her experience at Tinder and the subsequent lawsuit. Due to the terms of her 2014 settlement with Tinder, she has been restricted from publicly discussing many details of that period, a limitation she acknowledged in a 2015 interview with The Washington Post.[10]

Recognition

Wolfe Herd has received numerous honors and accolades throughout her career. In 2014, Business Insider named her one of the "30 Most Important Women Under 30 in Tech."[21]

In 2018, Time magazine included Wolfe Herd on its annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the world, recognizing her impact on the technology and dating industries.[3] Her inclusion on the list acknowledged both the commercial success of Bumble and its cultural significance as a platform that shifted norms around gender dynamics in online dating.

Following the Bumble IPO in 2021, Wolfe Herd received widespread recognition as one of the youngest women to lead a company to a public offering and was described as the world's youngest female self-made billionaire by multiple publications.[18][2]

Paper magazine, Grazia, and numerous other publications have profiled Wolfe Herd extensively, with coverage focusing on her role in transforming the dating app industry and her advocacy for women's safety in digital spaces.[22][23]

In 2025, Wolfe Herd's story was adapted into the Hulu film Swiped, which dramatized her experiences at Tinder and the founding of Bumble. Time magazine and other outlets covered the film, noting its portrayal of the events that led to the creation of one of the world's most prominent dating platforms.[24] Fortune reported on the film's focus, noting that Swiped concentrated primarily on Wolfe Herd's time at Tinder rather than her subsequent work building Bumble.[25]

Legacy

Whitney Wolfe Herd's career has been defined by two major contributions to the technology industry: her role in co-founding Tinder, which introduced swipe-based mobile dating to a mainstream audience, and her creation of Bumble, which introduced a women-first model to the dating app ecosystem.[4][8]

Bumble's design principle — requiring women to initiate contact — represented a deliberate challenge to the norms of online dating, where women often reported being overwhelmed by unsolicited messages. The app's approach influenced the broader dating industry, with competitors subsequently introducing features aimed at giving users, particularly women, more control over their experience.[1][7]

Wolfe Herd's sexual harassment lawsuit against Tinder in 2014 also had a lasting impact on the technology industry's reckoning with workplace culture. Filed years before the Me Too movement brought widespread attention to sexual harassment and discrimination, the case was among the first high-profile lawsuits to publicly challenge the behavior of executives at a major Silicon Valley startup.[10][9]

Her legislative advocacy for laws against unsolicited sexually explicit images — often referred to as cyberflashing — contributed to broader discussions about digital harassment and the responsibilities of technology platforms in protecting users.[17]

As of 2025, Wolfe Herd continues to lead Bumble as the company navigates a rapidly changing landscape in which dating app fatigue, particularly among younger users, poses a significant challenge. Her stated focus on integrating artificial intelligence and addressing the broader societal issue of loneliness reflects an evolution in her thinking about the role of technology in human connection.[19][20]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 GarberMeganMegan"Bumble: the dating app where women call the shots".The Guardian.2015-04-12.https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/12/bumble-dating-app-women-call-shots-whitney-wolfe.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Bumble IPO: CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd on BMBL stock, shares, and the app's initial public offering".Fortune.2021-02-11.https://fortune.com/2021/02/11/bumble-ipo-ceo-whitney-wolfe-herd-bmbl-stock-shares-interview-app-initial-public-offering/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Whitney Wolfe Herd: The 100 Most Influential People of 2018".Time.2018.https://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217594/whitney-wolfe-herd/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Whitney Wolfe Helped Make Tinder a Success. Then She Created Its Fiercest Competitor.".Biography.2025-09-22.https://www.biography.com/business-leaders/a66106070/swiped-true-story-whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "SMU Senior Whitney Wolfe Launches Second Business, Clothing Line Tender Heart".SMU Daily Campus.http://www.smudailycampus.com/news/smu-senior-whitney-wolfe-launches-second-business-clothing-line-tender-heart.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Tinder Co-Founder Whitney Wolfe and Bumble".Business Insider.2015-01.http://www.businessinsider.com/tinder-co-founder-whitney-wolfe-and-bumble-2015-1.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Bumble, the Feminist Dating App, and Whitney Wolfe".The New York Times.2017-03-18.https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/fashion/bumble-feminist-dating-app-whitney-wolfe.html.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "'The Interview': Can Whitney Wolfe Herd Make Us Love Dating Apps Again?".The New York Times.2025-05-10.https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/magazine/whitney-wolfe-herd-interview.html.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "Tinder Whitney Wolfe Sean Rad Justin Mateen Sexual Harassment Suit".Heavy.2014-07.http://heavy.com/tech/2014/07/tinder-whitney-wolfe-sean-rad-justin-mateen-sexual-harassment-suit/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "Whitney Wolfe, founder of dating app Bumble, has had quite the year. She just can't discuss parts of it.".The Washington Post.2015-12-02.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/12/02/whitney-wolfe-founder-of-dating-app-bumble-has-had-quite-the-year-she-just-cant-discuss-parts-of-it/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  11. ↑ "Whitney Wolfe Settles Sexual Harassment Tinder Lawsuit for $1 Million".Business Insider.2014-11.https://www.businessinsider.com/whitney-wolfe-settles-sexual-harassment-tinder-lawsuit-1-million-2014-11.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 O'ConnorClareClare"Billion-Dollar Bumble: How Whitney Wolfe Herd Built America's Fastest-Growing Dating App".Forbes.2017-11-14.https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2017/11/14/billion-dollar-bumble-how-whitney-wolfe-herd-built-americas-fastest-growing-dating-app/#1cb7bf24248b.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Whitney Wolfe".ATX Woman.https://atxwoman.com/whitney-wolfe/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  14. ↑ ""What I originally wanted to do with Bumble is rewrite the Internet." - Whitney Wolfe Herd".SXSW.2018.https://sxsw.com/interactive/2018/sxsw-2018-featured-speaker-whitney-wolfe-herd-in-conversation-with-gayle-king-video/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  15. ↑ "Bumble App: Whitney Wolfe".Vanity Fair.2015-08.http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/08/bumble-app-whitney-wolfe.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  16. ↑ "NPR Transcript: Whitney Wolfe Herd".NPR.https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=557437086.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Texas May Outlaw Unsolicited Sexual Images. Would That Be Enforceable, and Does It Even Matter?".Texas Monthly.https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/texas-may-outlaw-unsolicited-sexual-images-would-that-be-enforceable-and-does-it-even-matter/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 "How Whitney Wolfe Herd became the world's youngest female self-made billionaire".Management Today.https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/whitney-wolfe-herd-became-worlds-youngest-female-self-made-billionaire/women-in-business/article/1707471.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 "Exclusive: Whitney Wolfe Herd Has a New Idea for Bumble—and All Our Relationships".The Wall Street Journal.2025-08-29.https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble-ai-398779bb.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Whitney Wolfe Herd Wants Technology to Cure Loneliness".Time.https://time.com/collections/person-of-the-week-podcast/6289603/whitney-wolfe-herd-interview-person-of-the-week/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  21. ↑ "30 Most Important Women Under 30 in Tech".Business Insider.2014-08.https://www.businessinsider.com/30-most-important-women-under-30-in-tech-2014-2014-8.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  22. ↑ "Whitney Wolfe Bumble".Paper.http://www.papermag.com/whitney-wolfe-bumble-it-girls-1647547057.html.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  23. ↑ "Whitney Wolfe: Tinder to Bumble".Grazia.https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/real-life/whitney-wolfe-tinder-bumble/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  24. ↑ "The True Story Behind Swiped, Whitney Wolfe Herd, and the Birth of Bumble".Time.2025-09-19.https://time.com/7314564/swiped-true-story-whitney-wolfe-herd-bumble/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  25. ↑ "'Swiped' movie misses Bumble's story".Fortune.2025-09-29.https://fortune.com/2025/09/29/swiped-bumble-movie-tinder-whitney-wolfe-herd/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.

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