Women-Led Dating App Bumble s 31-Year-Old Founder Becomes Billionaire Women-Led Dating App Bumble s 31-Year-Old Founder Becomes Billionaire The listing caps a saga that s both inspiration and cautionary tale for women tech founders.
Bumble s IPO launches Wolfe Herd into a rarefied club of self-made female billionaires.
A company catering to women and led by women has made its 31-year-old female founder a billionaire.
Shares of Bumble Inc., the owner of the dating app where women make the first move, soared 67% in its trading debut to $72 at 1:03 p.m. in New York, valuing Chief Executive Officer Whitney Wolfe Herd s stake at $1.5 billion.
The listing caps a saga that s both inspiration and cautionary tale for women tech founders. Wolfe Herd capitalized on an underserved market and built a multibillion-dollar company that was in a sense born from one of the most vexing obstacles to women entrepreneurs: sexual harassment.
The company is among a number of high-profile Silicon Valley tech startups, which are seeking to cash in on record-breaking demand for new shares on U.S. capital markets. Her nearly 12% stake in the company was worth $1.6 billion as of 12:40 p.m. EST on Thursday, Forbes added.
Shares of Bumble Inc., the owner of the dating app where women make the first move, soared 67% on trading debut to $72 in New York, valuing CEO Whitney Wolfe Herds stake at $1.5 billion.
Shares of Bumble Inc, backed by Blackstone Group Inc, soared more than 76 percent in their stock market debut on Thursday, fetching a US$14 billion valuation for the operator of the dating app where women make the first move.
The company’s shares opened at US$76 on the NASDAQ, well above its initial public offering (IPO) price of US$43 per share. Austin, Texas-based Bumble operates two major apps, Bumble and Badoo, which touts over 40 million monthly active users worldwide.
In an interview on Thursday, Bumble chief executive Whitney Wolfe Herd said the global pandemic encouraged people to build a relationship and meet
Bumble Inc Chief Executive Officer Whitney Wolfe Herd's stake in the women-centric dating app operator was worth nearly $2 billion, as shares rallied for a second straight day after a blockbuster debut on Thursday.