A tech holding company founded by two Silicon Valley executives is in advanced talks to take the dating app private, according to a person familiar with the matter. The shares jumped about 50%, their biggest one-day gain since their first day of trading.
Bumble ended its first day of trading in 2021 valued at about $14 billion. The price now being discussed to take it private is roughly what the company brought in from customers last year.
Ithaca Holdings, a holding company for technology businesses founded by Ravi Gupta and John Hegeman, is in advanced talks to acquire Bumble in a deal valuing the dating-app operator at roughly $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. Reports on the talks said founder and Chief Executive Whitney Wolfe Herd would roll part of her stake into the new company. Neither Bumble nor Ithaca has commented, and no agreement has been announced.
Bumble shares jumped 49.6% to $3.80 on Monday, the stock's largest one-day percentage gain since its first day of trading. Before the reports, the company's market value was about $389 million, by one widely cited estimate, and the shares had fallen about 29% this year.
What $1 Billion Buys
Bumble's revenue fell nearly 10% in 2025 to about $966 million, and its paying users dropped more than 11% to about 3.7 million. In the second quarter of this year, paying users fell 16.4% from a year earlier to 3.2 million.
A $1 billion valuation is therefore about 1.04 times last year's revenue.
The reports did not say whether the figure refers to Bumble's equity or to its enterprise value, which includes debt. The difference is material. At June 30, Bumble had about $451 million of debt, excluding leases, and about $154 million of cash. If $1 billion is the enterprise value, the equity would be worth roughly $700 million after subtracting net debt of about $297 million.
Even after Monday's jump, the stock market valued Bumble below either reading of the reported price.
The Buyer
Ithaca is not a traditional buyout fund. It is a holding company for technology businesses, founded by two Silicon Valley executives. A buyer of that kind may be less focused on cutting costs to service debt and more on a turnaround of the product, though no plans have been disclosed.
Bumble has been trying to revive growth since Ms. Wolfe Herd returned as chief executive in March 2025. It launched AI-driven matching features and loosened its signature rule that only women could send the first message. It cut about 30% of its staff in mid-2025.
Paolo Pescatore, an analyst at PP Foresight, was skeptical. "Going private looks less like a strategic masterstroke and more like an admission that Bumble's current strategy is failing," he said. "A change in ownership will not magically fix these fundamental problems."
Market Implications
One reading is that a private buyer sees value the public market missed. A business with nearly $1 billion of revenue and a recognized brand was trading at well under half that figure before Monday, and a turnaround is easier without quarterly scrutiny.
A second reading is that the price reflects a business in decline. Paying users are falling at a double-digit pace, revenue is shrinking and the reported valuation is barely one year of sales. Shareholders who bought before Monday may be locking in a loss, not a premium to long-term value.
What To Watch
A signed agreement, a per-share price and the financing structure will settle the equity-versus-enterprise question. The size of Ms. Wolfe Herd's rollover and any go-shop period will show whether other bidders could emerge.