Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd is stepping down as CEO

Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd is stepping down from the chief executive role of Bumble Inc., the company announced on Monday. Wolfe Herd will be succeeded by Lidiane Jones, the current CEO of Slack, who took the role at that company in January. Jones will start at Bumble on January 2nd, 2024. Wolfe Herd will remain at Bumble as its executive chair.

Wolfe Herd was initially a co-founder at Tinder; after being pushed out of the company, she went on to found Bumble in 2014. Bumble started as a dating app where women would kick off conversations, and the company has since expanded into friendships and networking. Bumble Inc. is the parent company of more than just Bumble; it also oversees Badoo, Fruitz, and Official.

“This move to Executive Chair gives me the ability to step forward into a new and exciting role, get back to my founder roots and bring immense passion and focus to this next chapter of growth,” Wolfe Herd said in a statement. “Lidiane’s expertise and track record in product and technology is exceptional and having her leading the next chapter of Bumble Inc. is a major win for our company, customers and team.”

“A hugely-deserved achievement for one of our most incredible executives,” Marc Benioff, chair and CEO of Slack owner Salesforce, said in a statement. “While we will all of course miss her greatly (especially me), we recognize what an amazing opportunity this is for Lidiane in becoming a public company CEO. And all the more so at Bumble, a truly great company, with great values that we admire dearly.”

Wolfe Herd appeared onstage at Code 2023 in September. She, unlike Roblox CEO David Baszucki, doesn’t sound like a fan of people dating in the metaverse.

Update November 6th, 3:05PM ET: Added Salesforce statement.