Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd Took the Company Public With a Baby on Her Hip

A rare sight in the corporate world: a billion-dollar CEO with a baby on her hip. When dating (and friendship and networking) app Bumble went public on February 11, meaning that its stock is now traded on NASDAQ, 31-year-old Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd became the youngest woman CEO to ever take a major American company public, and thus the youngest self-made woman billionaire. She celebrated the historic moment with her one-year-old son, Bobby Lee “Bo” Herd II, in her arms.

“This is what leadership looks like,” captioned a video of the moment, showing Wolfe Herd at Bumble headquarters pressing a button to take the company public. She reportedly owns an 11.6% stake in the company; as its value increased that day, she officially joined the ranks of the billionaire class. It’s important to note this doesn’t mean she suddenly has that much just sitting in her bank account; she’s worth that much if she decided to sell everything tomorrow.

“It’s the baby on the hip while running the world for me,” commented one Instagram user. “CONGRATS !! THANK YOU FOR BRINGING ME AND MY BF TOGETHER!!! 😭💕,” added another. 

Real estate entrepreneur and Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran wrote, “You are amazing! And all with a baby on your hip👏.”

Bumble uses the same swipe-based matching system as other dating apps, but since its launch has required women to send the first message. As of last year, it had over 100 million users.

Wolfe Herd wrote of the IPO on Twitter, “This is only possible thanks to the more than 1.7 billion first moves made by brave women on our app—and the pioneering women who paved the way for us in the business world. To everyone who made today possible: Thank you.”

As childcare becomes less available during the pandemic, many mothers are pulling double duty while working from home. In fact, the strain of the pandemic caused American women to lose over a 100,000 jobs last year. Hopefully this year we can start to rebuild a world in which moms and all women are able to do both.