Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd wins men’s bracket in $1 million March Madness charity competition
That’s including correctly choosing the entire Midwest region and selecting Connecticut, the favorite to repeat as champs, to top Purdue in Monday’s title game.
“No basketball prodigies over here; it takes a little research and a lot of luck,” Herd said in an email. “The best part is the impact this fun competition will have on the charity recipients.”
On the women’s side, K. Don Cornwell, co-founder of sports investment firm Dynasty Equity, won by accurately picking 86% of the bracket, including calling for undefeated South Carolina to top superstar Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes in the finals.
“I can’t reveal all of my secrets, but it has something to do with picking more winners than losers,” Cornwell said in an email. As for South Carolina, they had fantastic leadership and a balanced roster, he said.
The Bloomberg’s Brackets for a Cause challenge sees entrants donate $20,000 and select a charity that receives funds if they are a top-three finisher in the men’s or women’s bracket. A total of more than $1 million was raised. Herd’s winnings are going to Baby2Baby, which helps children in poverty. Cornwell chose Harlem’s Children’s Zone, the nonprofit running charter schools and family support programs in Manhattan.
Both winners leaned heavily on favorites as the title games featured meetings between teams seeded No. 1 in their region. The Huskies won every game by at least 14 points. South Carolina, led by coach Dawn Staley, defeated all but one team by 12 points to go 38-0 on the season.
The women’s championship continued a run of record-breaking ratings. ESPN said it was the most watched basketball game on its platforms since 2019, with the audience averaging 18.7 million viewers and peaking at 24 million. That topped the men’s final, which Nielsen said averaged 14.8 million, according to the Associated Press.
On the men’s side, Joe Reece, Silverbox Capital’s managing partner, placed second and former Macy’s Chief Executive Officer Terry Lundgren finished third.
Trailing Cornwell in the women’s bracket was Cliff Asness, who co-founded hedge fund AQR Capital Management, and Ken Griffin, Citadel’s founder and CEO. Other high profile participants included Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca and Apollo Global Management’s co-founder Marc Rowan.
