Blackstone Nears Exit From Its Bumble Investment
Blackstone is on course to sell its remaining Bumble stake in the first half of 2027, Business Insider reports. Its analysis of SEC filings estimates that Blackstone and co-investor Accel have already recovered roughly twice the $2.1 billion they invested in 2019. The projected exit depends on the recent selling pace continuing.
Business Insider reports that Blackstone is approaching the end of its investment in Bumble after nearly seven years. The publication analyzed SEC filings and concluded that Blackstone and venture-capital co-investor Accel have recovered roughly twice the $2.1 billion they invested in Bumble’s parent company in 2019. Blackstone acquired a majority stake in MagicLab, later renamed Bumble Inc., at a $3 billion valuation in 2019. Bumble went public in 2021.
Business Insider says a late-2025 agreement with UBS allows Blackstone to sell slightly less than 5% of Bumble each quarter. Based on the pace of the last two quarters, the publication expects the remaining stake to be sold in the first half of 2027. Blackstone’s representation on Bumble’s board has fallen to zero. The firm still held 22.4 million shares when Business Insider published its analysis. Bumble separately explored a possible company sale with Morgan Stanley, Reuters reported in June. No sale has been announced, and Bumble reported that paying users fell 16.4% year over year in its second quarter.
Blackstone’s return and Bumble’s current performance tell different stories. Early dividends and share sales benefited the investors when the company was worth much more; Bumble later lost market value and paying users. This is a shareholder exit, not a completed sale of Bumble or proof that its product turnaround is working. The share holdings, transactions and board departures are drawn from public filings reviewed by Business Insider. The estimate that Blackstone and Accel doubled their money is the publication’s calculation, not a figure reported by Bumble. The expected 2027 exit assumes the recent selling pace continues, and the potential sale of Bumble remains unconfirmed.