Whitney Wolfe Herd: World's Youngest Self-Made Female Billionaire
AUSLEEN ACOSTA | MARCH 12, 2021
On February 11th, 2021, the CEO of Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd, became the youngest self-made woman billionaire! Aside from founding Bumble, the second-biggest online dating company, and signing her deal with her baby in her arms, there is so much more to her empowering story.
Whitney was originally a co-founder and Vice President of Marketing of Tinder but later filed a lawsuit against Tinder for sexual harassment. Her former boss and boyfriend, Justin Mateen, had sent threats, derogatory texts, and later stripped her of the co-founder title. She was eliminated from this co-founder position because “a girl in such a role makes the company seem like a joke.”
This led her to create Bumble, a dating app where women have to make the first move. She took the stigma of women waiting and hoping for a man to ask them out, and changed this out-dated and traditional role of dating. Bumble was created to empower women and became a crusader against misogyny on its app. Herd built a multi-billion-dollar empire aimed to dismantle the common experience of women - sexual harassment. She took her trauma and experiences to create a platform that protects women. Bumble reported $417 million in revenue in the first nine months of 2020 and had a 70% year-over-year growth. At 31 years old, she has a $1.5 billion net worth. Herd states, "The power lunch is no longer just for men... we all deserve a seat at the table."
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index reveals that self-made women account for less than five percent of the world’s biggest fortunes and out of the 559 companies that went public in the US in 2020, only three, including Bumble, are helmed by women. Whitney has inspired other women to be brave in the startup world and gave business-women a renewed hope. “Whitney’s success will help further the case for investing in businesses that serve a female audience or that are founded by women,” said Austin venture capitalist Kelsi Kamin. “It’s a super exciting time.”
