Whitney Wolfe's never asked a guy out.
But that doesn't mean the blond bombshell's not all about female empowerment.
The 25-year-old, best known for co-founding Tinder and then suing the hookup app for sexual harassment in June, is back in the dating biz.
Why can a girl not make a first move with a man, but she can go out and conquer her career? Why? Tell me why. There's no rhyme or reason. - Whitney Wolfe
And this time, she's making sure it's girls calling the shots.
"Women run the world right now," says Wolfe, who settled out of court with her former employer and parent company IAC for a rumored $1 million.
"Why can a girl not make a first move with a man, but she can go out and conquer her career? Why? Tell me why. There's no rhyme or reason."
Cue Bumble, Wolfe's first venture since leaving Tinder.
The 5-foot-6 Wolfe (5-foot-10 when sporting her suede Manolo Blahnik "BB" pumps) describes it as the Sadie Hawkins of dating apps. Female users have 24 hours to initiate conversations with their matches — otherwise, the connection disappears.
"Last night, I was sitting at the Mercer [hotel] with a group of girlfriends, and there were two very cute guys sitting in the lobby," recalls Wolfe.
"My friend really, really wanted to talk to him. She's like, 'I want to talk to him. Should I go over there? I can't go over there, it's too embarrassing.' Girls want to make the first move. Society just makes it awkward."
Despite aesthetic and functional similarities, Wolfe maintains her company — which she launched in December, three months after her Tinder settlement — is not a vengeance app.
"My goal is not to overtake Tinder or compete with Tinder," she says during a recent NYC visit from Austin, Texas, where she lives with her multimillionaire beau, oil scion Michael Herd.
These texts (above) were included as exhibits in Wolfe's sexual harassment case.
"To be fully honest with you, I think Tinder is a great product. It's still my baby at the end of the day. So I wish it continued success," she says, adding, "I still have equity in Tinder."
Wolfe wasn't always so rosy on Tinder.
She joined the team in May 2012 when the app was still a prototype called MatchBox, and helped grow it into the mammoth it is today.
In her lawsuit, Wolfe alleges she was sexually harassed by CEO Sean Rad and fellow co-founder Justin Mateen during the majority of her tenure there.
Mateen, whom she dated on and off throughout 2013, became verbally abusive after they broke up, calling her a "slut" and a "liar" and sending her derogatory texts during work hours.
Mateen and Rad even tried to strip Wolfe of her co-founder status, she says in her suit, because having a female co-founder of a "hookup" app was too "slutty."
Wolfe resigned in light of what she deemed a hostile and fratlike work atmosphere. Soon after her texts with Mateen were made public, he was suspended and resigned in September.
Rad, who received additional criticism for doodling Barry Diller's initials in the shape of a penis during a meeting with the honcho, was ousted from his CEO position in November.
Wolfe won't comment on her lawsuit, but she does say that in the startup world, "It's better for women to hold their ground.
"I just hope that more women realize that if your gut tells you you're doing a good job, you're doing a good job."
Wolfe with ex-boyfriend Justin Mateen (far left) and their fellow Tinder co-founders, Jonathan Badeen and Sean Rad.Photo: Getty Images
Despite her current stature, the tech world wasn't an entirely natural fit for Wolfe.
At Southern Methodist University, she studied political science. After graduation, Wolfe retreated to her mother's pad in Montecito, Calif. "Serendipitously," she says, she was invited to a dinner with the Tinder crew, got a job and is now one of the most successful women in tech.
Today, Wolfe mans a predominantly female 12-person pack at Bumble, including former Kardashian business director Jennifer Stith, and a female coder who moonlights as a professional model. Bumble has hundreds of thousands of users, according to the entrepreneur, and "around 12 percent week-over-week growth."
When she's not jetting among London, LA and New York, Wolfe's cozying up with boyfriend Herd, whom she met skiing in Aspen last Christmas. The two have been spotted flying on his private jet and luxuriating in Grecian villas.
Wolfe met multimillionaire boyfriend, oil scion Michael Herd (above), while skiing in Aspen last Christmas.
But despite some new life perks, Wolfe remains ambitious. Bumble plans to tap the "matchmaking for friends" market in the next few months and grow usership to 1 million.
As for her past, well, she's had no contact with Rad or Mateen since suing.
Not even a congratulatory call?
"No," Wolfe says. Her publicist laughs, quickly adding, "You can leave the laugh out."
"That was her . . ." Wolfe says, pointing to her publicist. "That was not Whitney Wolfe . . ."
After all, with Bumble, she's already having the last laugh.
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