David Brown
๐ค SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
That's fallen by about 7%.
To shore up the company, Wolfherd has decided layoffs are needed.
She's already told the staff in a company-wide email that Bumble's cutting around 30% of the workforce.
Most of the cuts will come from the London office, where Bumble's European online dating subsidiary, Badoo, is located.
Now, speaking to the employees who will remain with the company, Wolfherd tries to explain the urgency of this moment.
The rooms in Austin and London go quiet.
This is dire news, but the company's been here before.
Just 18 months earlier, under Lidiani Jones, Bumble cut 30% of its workforce.
Now, it's cutting 30% of what's left.
The employees who are connected by video chat can't keep silent.
They start typing their reactions in the meeting chat.
Mostly, they're flooding the screen with emojis.
Thumbs down, frowny faces.
Wolfherd waves her hands in the air in frustration, and then, according to employees who were at the meeting, she tells her staff to calm down and start acting like adults.
News of the tense meeting spreads.
One magazine calls Wolfherd's announcement a, quote, "...masterclass in how not to deliver news about layoffs."
Despite the misstep, Wolf Heard presses on.
But while she's staring at spreadsheets in Austin, Hollywood is busy dramatizing her demons.
It's September 2025 in Toronto.