We haven’t looked deeply into the legal situation, but I think the cases are fairly normal for any consumer-tech business. Unlike Match Group, Bumble has relatively faced less intense legal suits. Match Group’s recent settlement with the FTC for only $14 million yet the case against Match Group appeared strong diminishes the headwind from such legal suits. This is one of our next topics to look into though. If you find any good insights, please add to: Bumble Legal Disputes (Notion)
On whether Bumble is a hookup app or a meaningful relationship app, I think it sits in between. Based on commentaries, many people have found love in Bumble but there are also those using it for short-term relationships. Are you trying to imply that if Bumble is mainly for meaningful relationships, its model is at risk since users will move out of the platform once they fall in love? If yes, I don’t think so. I think it’s the opposite since the more people are successful the more people who are using the app. Look at Hinge which is mainly for meaningful relationships (dubbed “designed-to-be-deleted”) but growing fast- revenue growth of 27% y/y in Q3 2025 (Match Group Valuation Model (Google Sheets). I think the question we should be asking ourselves is whether people will still use dating apps to find real love?
But the key advantage for Bumble is its strong perception among women and we know men go where women are. When it launched, it drove the perception that the app is safer for women than other dating apps and that women using it have more control since they could message first.
Blackstone seems to be wanting to get out as seen by the recent conversion of all its common units to class A common stock and the sale of some class A shares. Similarly, Blackstone’s voting power is diminishing (Notion). Additionally, Bumble will now longer make payments to common units holders after the parties decided last quarter to end Tax Receivable Agreement (TRA). Bumble had estimated that it was going to make payment of $27-59 million per year for 15 years related to TRA (Notion-Bumble TRA).
Let me know if you need further clarification or if you find additional insights.