Whitney Wolfe Herd speaks onstage in Dana Point, California.
Joe Scarnici | Getty Images Entertainment
Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd will return to the company as CEO, a little more than a year after she stepped down from the role, the company announced Friday.
The company’s current CEO Lidiane Jones has resigned for “personal reasons,” Bumble said. Jones previously served as the CEO of Salesforce’s cloud-based messaging platform Slack. She will continue to helm Bumble until Wolfe Herd takes over in mid-March.
“I am deeply grateful for the transformative work Lidiane has led during such a pivotal time for Bumble, and her leadership has been instrumental in building a strong foundation for our future,” Wolfe Herd said in a statement.
Bumble is a dating app that encourages women to make the first move. Wolfe Herd founded the company in 2014 in an effort to foster a safer online dating community. Bumble went public through a successful initial public offering in 2021, but its market cap has tumbled from its debut of $7.7 billion to around $847 million.
The company said Friday that it expects to report total revenue and Bumble App revenue above the midpoint of its provided outlook ranges for its fourth quarter, and adjusted EBITDA within the disclosed outlook range.
Shares of the company popped 6% in premarket trading on Friday.
In addition to the CEO transition, Bumble said Ann Mather, who serves as a lead director at the company, will become 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.