Bumble, Founder, Blackstone Sued Over Dual-Class Stock Structure

A Bumble Inc. investor filed suit in Delaware on Friday against the company, founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, and its former private equity sponsor, Blackstone Inc., claiming the online dating company’s dual-class stock structure stretches the law “beyond its breaking point.”

The lawsuit in the state’s Chancery Court targets provisions in Bumble’s corporate charter that allegedly grant 10 votes per share to any shares owned by its “principal” investors—affiliates of Herd and Blackstone—regardless of whether they’re class A or class B shares.

Although other tech companies have rewarded high-profile founders with supervoting classes of stock, they typically based voting ...