Bumble Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd is the World's Youngest Self-Made Female Billionaire
Lately, Whitney Wolfe Herd's name has been getting more prominent, not only because Forbes has just named her the youngest female billionaire in the world to earn her fortune, but also because of the 31-year-old's exceptional success story. It’s one about a young woman in a technology industry that has overcome tremendous resistance, bias, and hardship.
In 2012, Herd was one of the founders of the dating app Tinder, which was estimated at more than $10 billion in 2019. However, in 2014, she left the company after experiencing sexual harassment while working for the company. Her boss not only harassed her, but also took away the young woman's title as a founder of the app. She sued Tinder, and the company was fined a modest sum as well as a portion of the rapidly rising shares values.
Following the scandal, Herd set out to create a new dating app, Bumble, in which women, not men, are the first to start a conversation. As of 2020, Bumble has over 100 million users. Today, it's one of Tinder's most serious competitors in the under 35 market. Many didn't believe in the idea that an app in which women take the initiative. Detractors thought the premise wouldn't receive much interest.
Today, Herd's assets are valued at $1.5 billion, making her the world's youngest female self-made billionaire in the world. Part of her fortune is 11.6 percent stake in of Bumble Inc., which manages not only Bumble, but also Badoo, another dating app Herd founded together with Russian billionaire Andrey Andreev in 2014.