On November 6th, Bumble (BMBL.O) experienced a 10% drop in shares as its founder Whitney Wolfe Herd announced her departure as CEO of the dating apps operator. The role will now be assumed by veteran executive Lydian Jones.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Jones, the current CEO of Slack, a company owned by Salesforce (CRM.N), and a former Microsoft (MSFT.O) executive with over 12 years of experience, will take over the position on January 2nd according to a statement released by Bumble. Meanwhile, Wolf Herd will continue serving as executive chairman.
“We consider Whitney’s departure as a negative factor for business operations in the near-medium-term and as having a detrimental effect on overall company morale”, stated analysts from Evercore ISI.
This marks the second major executive departure at Bumble this year, following the resigning of President Tariq Shawkat after three years in the role.
At the age of 33, Wolf Herd founded Bumble in 2014 after a turbulent exit from Tinder, a rival dating app owned by Match Group, where she had also co-founded. Bumble stood out in the industry by allowing women to take the initiative in making the first move.
[1/2]Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd poses for a photo on the red carpet during the Time 100 Gala in Manhattan, New York, US on April 24, 2018. Reuters/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo Get licensing rights
In recent times, Bumble, which encompasses dating services such as Friends, Badoo, Frootz (for Gen Z), and Official, has encountered challenges in markets like Eastern Europe and has faced competition from its bigger rival, Match (MTCH). As a result, the company has experienced growing pressure.
“Bumble has failed to successfully realize its vision of becoming a comprehensive platform for women that extends beyond dating, including areas like friendship and professional networking. How the new CEO manages these non-primary use cases will play a crucial role,” stated Jefferies analysts. This is a significant question to address.
Bumble had raised over $2 billion in its initial public offering in February 2021, capitalizing on the popularity of internet-based dating services during the pandemic when movement was restricted.
However, the value of Bumble’s shares has plummeted by 80% as these challenges subsided.
Bumble will announce its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Maju Samuel
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Source: www.reuters.com
