Whitney Wolfe Herd Returning to Lead Bumble

Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd announced that she will be returning to the company as CEO in March.

Wolfe Herd left the position early last year and Lidiane Jones, the former CEO of Slack, took the reins at Bumble. Jones oversaw a major reboot of the app which deviated from its original female-first approach, allowing men to message women first. During her tenure, the company went through staff layoffs and a significant drop in stock value as well.

Jones said she was leaving “for personal reasons” according to The Verge.

"Bumble has made tremendous progress over the past year in building a platform for renewed, sustainable growth, and I will be forever proud of the work we’ve done for this beloved global brand," said Jones in a statement.

Wolfe Herd founded the company in 2014 to provide women a better experience with dating apps and to distinguish it from its popular rival Tinder. For a decade, the female-first model focused on safety and putting women in charge of the dating process, and contributed to Bumble’s growth and eventual public offering. In the last couple of years, many dating app companies have been struggling to generate new revenue and attract new, younger users. Bumble has been affected as well.

Despite recent declines, Wolfe Herd remains positive about the future of the dating app. “As I step into the role of CEO, I’m energized and fully committed to Bumble’s success, our mission of creating meaningful, equitable relationships, and our opportunity ahead,” Wolfe Herd said in a statement, according to The Verge. “We have exciting innovation ahead for Bumble in this bold new chapter.”

The redesign hit Bumble hard – the app’s share value dropped by more than half since the launch of it. And an anti-celibacy marketing campaign launched shortly after the redesign didn’t help – there was a huge backlash as it coincided with the repercussions of anti-abortion legislation in many states where women couldn’t access basic reproductive care. Bumble took down the ads and apologized for the error.

Interestingly, while Tinder’s paying user base has declined, Bumble’s has increased according to their most recent earnings report. The Verge noted the earnings report said that paying users had increased from 3.8 million to 4.3 million during the last year, even though average spending per user dropped from $23.42 to $21.17, leading to a slight drop in total revenue.

Bumble also added Ann Mather, a lead director at the company, as chair of the board of directors. “We are fortunate to have a passionate and engaged founder in Whitney to drive Bumble’s vision as the Company accelerates the execution of its strategy,” Mather said in a statement regarding Wolfe Herd’s return.