Bumble’s billion dollar lady who puts women first
Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO of dating app Bumble that puts women in charge, is among the new female names to join the list of the super-rich, after becoming the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire.
As the struggle to ensure gender equality and achieve women’s economic empowerment continues, the 31-year-old is an inspiring example of how will and determination can lead to success.
Whitney Wolfe Herd’s road to success and to the Forbes list of the super-rich was not easy. Before Bumble, she was among the founding team at Tinder. In 2014, she resigned and filed a sexual harassment and discrimination suit against the company and fellow executives, settling out of court and walking away with a reported $1 million.
When she launched her new dating app the same year, she had one specific thing in her mind; to turn traditional dating norms upside down. What she visualised and created was a dating app launched by women, guided by women and for women, that would defy age-old gender norms by letting the ladies make the first move.
How Bumble differs from other dating apps
A dating app which allows only female users to make the first contact with a man. This is what differentiates Bumble from the other dating apps.
Bumble works a lot like Tinder – if both people swipe right, it’s a match. However, its biggest difference is that in heterosexual pairings, women have to be the first one to send a message.
By putting women in the driver’s seat, Bumble aims to reduce the volume of toxic and unwanted messages from men that many women face on dating apps.
“On Bumble, women make the first move. We’re levelling the playing field and changing the dynamics of dating. We believe relationships should begin with respect and equality,” the company says in its website.
World’s youngest female self-made billionaire
Nearly seven years after its launch, the company that prides itself on its female-first approach raised $2.2 billion in an initial public offering that exceeded expectations and made the 31 year-old the youngest self-made female billionaire.
Now, Whitney Wolfe Herd is worth $1.3 billion (£940 million) and is one of the 328 women on the Forbes 35th annual list of the world’s 2,755 billionaires.
Her dating app is available in 55 countries and counts around 100 million users worldwide, 46.2% of them are women.
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