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Amazon October Prime Day 2025: The top 175+ deals to shop now

Amazon October Prime Day 2025: The top 175+ deals to shop now

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Trying to get a head start on your holiday shopping? Amazon’s fourth annual Prime Big Deal Days, aka October Prime Day, runs through 11:59 p.m. PT on Oct. 8, and we’ve spotted record-low prices across popular tech categories.

Over the course of the sale, it’s worth mapping out what gifts you need to buy or which household goods need restocking. We’ll be updating this guide hourly as the sale runs its course, so keep checking back for the best October Prime Day deals.

Note: Deals marked with a 🔥 denote an all-time low price. Follow Mashable’s Prime Big Deal Days live blog and keep checking back for the latest discounts, stock alerts, and deal drops. (For even more updates, follow the live blogs of our friends at CNET, PCMag, ZDNET, and Lifehacker.)

October Prime Day deals available now

Here’s a quick look at some of Amazon’s biggest discounts available on the second day (Oct. 8) of Prime Big Deal Days 2025:

  • Up to 45% off Bose headphones and speakers

  • Up to 30% off MacBooks, AirPods, and AirTags

  • Up to 55% off TVs from Samsung, TCL, and Hisense

  • Up to 40% off LG and Samsung monitors

  • Up to 50% off on select Amazon devices, including Kindle e-readers and Echo devices

  • Up to 65% off chargers and power banks from Anker

  • Up to 50% off vacuums from Shark, iRobot, and Roborock

  • One free grocery item on a Same-Day order at eligible locations

  • Prime members can use Grubhub+ to get $10 off orders of $20 or more

  • Prime members receive triple points on Kindle store purchases during Prime Big Deal Days

Best Apple deal

Why we picked this

“Apple’s M4 MacBook Air is a sleek speed demon: In our CPU benchmark, it outperformed 89% of the models in our laptop testing database. It doesn’t look all that different from older MacBooks with M-something chips, but its upgraded 12MP Center Stage camera was a welcome upgrade to our reviewer.

I think the 15-inch model is the best pick for most people, and right now, Amazon has the 256GB base configuration on sale for just $979 in sky blue (normally $1,199). That’s a new record low — it was $20 pricier on the first day of Prime Big Deal Days. If it sells out there, Best Buy’s managed to match it.” — Haley Henschel, Senior Shopping Reporter

Read Mashable’s full review of the 15-inch Apple MacBook Air (M4).

AirPods deals

MacBook deals

  • Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $799 $999 (save $200) 🔥

  • Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,399 $1,599

  • Apple MacBook Pro, 16-inch (M4 Pro, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $2,249 $2,499 (save $250)

  • Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4 Max, 36GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,869 $3,199 (save $330)

  • Apple MacBook Pro, 16-inch (M4 Max, 36GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $3,099 $3,499 (save $400)

Apple Watch deals

iPad deals

  • Apple iPad, 11-inch (A16, WiFi, 128GB) — $279 $349 (save $70) 🔥

  • Apple iPad mini (A17 Pro, WiFi, 128GB) — $379 $499 (save $120) 🔥

  • Apple iPad, 11-inch (A16, WiFi + cellular, 128GB) — $429 $499 (save $120) 🔥

  • Apple iPad Air, 11-inch (M3, WiFi, 128GB) — $449 $599 (save $150)

  • Apple iPad Air, 11-inch (M3, WiFi + cellular, 128GB) — $599 $749 (save $150)

  • Apple iPad Air, 13-inch (M3, WiFi, 128GB) — $649 $799 (save $150)

  • Apple iPad Air, 13-inch (M3, WiFi + cellular, 128GB) — $799 $949 (save $150)

  • Apple iPad Pro, 11-inch (M4, WiFi, 256GB) — $899 $999 (save $100)

  • Apple iPad Pro, 11-inch (M4, WiFi + cellular, 256GB) — $1,099 $1,199 (save $100)

  • Apple iPad Pro, 13-inch (M4, WiFi, 256GB) — $1,099 $1,299 (save $200)

  • Apple iPad Pro, 13-inch (M4, WiFi + cellular, 256GB) — $1,299 $1,499 (save $200)

More Apple deals

Best headphones and earbuds deal

Why we picked this

“The first-generation QuietComfort Ultras are our current favorite noise-canceling headphones and some of the comfiest cans we’ve ever tried. Bose recently announced their successors ($449), which offer USB-C audio support, adjustable ANC, and a better battery life, but the originals remain a competitive buy at their current price of $299 (or $150 less) in the limited-edition dark plum colorway.” — Haley Henschel, Senior Shopping Reporter

Read Mashable’s full review of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones.

More headphones and earbuds deals

Prime Day Bluetooth speaker deals

Best Windows laptop deal

Why we like it

“The 13.8-inch Surface Laptop 7 with a Snapdragon X Elite chip is our favorite Windows laptop for most people. It’s beautiful, it’s about as fast as an M4 MacBook Air, and it lasts for nearly 23 hours on a single charge — that’s two longer than the M4 Pro-powered MacBook Pro, the longest-lasting MacBook we’ve tried. The dune variant with 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage is marked down to $919.99 for Prime Big Deal Days (or 34% off) — its best price ever.” — Haley Henschel, Senior Shopping Reporter

Read Mashable’s full review of the 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7.

More Windows laptop deals

  • Asus Vivobook 16 (AMD Ryzen AI 5 340, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $616.99 $799.99 (save $183)

  • Microsoft Surface Laptop, 13-inch (Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $649.99 $899.99 (save $250) 🔥

  • Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, 13.8-inch (Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $879.99 $1,199.99 (save $320)

  • Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, 15-inch (Snapdragon X Elite, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,459.99 $2,099.99 (save $650) 🔥

2-in-1 laptop deals

  • Microsoft Surface Pro 11, 12-inch (Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $699.99 $799.99 (save $100) 🔥

  • Microsoft Surface Pro 11, 13-inch (Snapdragon X Elite, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $899.99 $1,399.99 (save $400) 🔥

  • LG gram Pro 2in1 16 (Intel Core Ultra 7 255H, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD) — $2,094.99 $2,549.99 (save $455) 🔥

Gaming laptop deals

  • Lenovo LOQ (Intel Core i7-13650HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $779.99 $1,179.99 (save $400) 🔥

  • Acer Nitro V (Intel Core i7-13620H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $849.99 $949.99 (save $100)

  • Acer Nitro V 16S AI (AMD Ryzen 7 260, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,169.99 $1,299.99 (save $130) 🔥

  • Asus ROG Strix G16 (Intel Core i7-14650HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,199.99 $1,499.99 (save $100) 🔥

  • Asus ROG Strix G16 (Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,399.99 $2,899.99 (save $500) 🔥

  • Asus ROG Strix G16 (Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,099.99 $2,399.99 (save $300) 🔥

Best TV deal

Why we like it

“This 75-inch Insignia TV just hit a new all-time low of $399.99, which is a 38% savings. If you’ve never had a QLED TV before, it’s a great low-stakes opportunity to upgrade. As a budget QLED, you can’t expect this model to stun in HDR like a premium Samsung QLED would. But compared to your old LED TV, you’ll quickly see the difference those quantum dots are making — they’ll especially pop when watching football in the daytime.” — Leah Stodart, Senior Shopping Reporter

More TV deals

42-inch to 50-inch TV deals

55-inch TV deals

65-inch and 70-inch TV deals

  • Hisense 65-inch E6 Cinema Series QLED 4K TV — $369.99 $549.99 (save $180) 🔥

  • LG 65-inch C5 OLED 4K TV — $1,387.99 $2,696.99 (save $1,309) 🔥

  • Samsung 65-inch The Frame 4K QLED TV (2024 model) — $1,197.96 $1,997.99 (save $800.03) 🔥

  • Samsung 65-inch S90F OLED TV (2025 model) — $1,527.99 $1,997.99 (save $470) 🔥

  • Sony 65-inch A95K QD-OLED 4K TV — $2,399 $3,499.99 (save $1,100.99) 🔥

  • Sony 65-inch Bravia 8 II QD OLED 4K TV — $2,788 $3,499.99 (save $711.99) 🔥

  • Insignia 70-inch F50 Series 4K Fire TV — $329 $499 (save $170) 🔥

75-inch and 77-inch TV deals

85-inch and up TV deals

  • Hisense 85-inch QD7 QLED 4K TV — $879.99 $1,299.99 (save $420)

  • TCL 85-inch QM6K QLED 4K TV — $997 $1,499.99 (save $502.99)

  • Hisense 85-inch U7 QLED 4K TV (2025 model) — $1,497 $2,499.99 (save $1,003) 🔥

  • Hisense 85-inch Canvas QLED 4K TV — $1,997.99 $2,297.99 (save $300)

  • Hisense 85-inch U8 Mini LED QLED 4K TV (2025 model) — $2,197.99 $3,498 (save $1,300.01) 🔥

  • Sony 85-inch Bravia 9 Mini LED QLED 4K TV — $3,998 $4,799.99 (save $801.99) 🔥

  • Hisense 100-inch E6 Cinema Series QLED 4K TV — $1,659.99 $2,699.99 (save $950) 🔥

Best Kindle deal

Why we like it

“The biggest perk to the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is its ad-free lock screen. Usually, I don’t think it’s worth the extra money, but with this record discount, I think it’s an incredible value. For $149.99, you’ll enjoy auto-adjusting brightness, 12 weeks of battery, wireless charging, and 32GB of storage.” — Samantha Mangino, Shopping Reporter

Read Mashable’s full review of the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition.

More Kindle deals

Best Amazon device deal

Why we picked this

“There’s no way around it: A shit ton of people are going to buy AirPods this October Prime Day. But for those who aren’t married to Apple’s earbuds (or how often they seem to break), just know that the latest version of Amazon’s Echo Buds with ANC are just $34.99 after a 71% discount. That beats their Prime Day price from July by $10, and you could get four pairs of Echo Buds for less than the $169.99 sale price of the AirPods Pro 2.” — Leah Stodart, Senior Shopping Reporter

More Amazon device deals

Fire tablet deals

Echo deals

Fire TV deals

Blink home security deals

Other Amazon device deals

Best robot vacuum deal

Why we picked this

“When it comes to robot vacuums, I always turn to Mashable’s in-house robot vacuum expert, Leah Stodart. When I asked her about these deals, she pointed out that iRobot marked down the Roomba Plus 405 to $379.99 (a new record low), making it one of the most affordable combo robot vacuums and mops. Plus, its dock not only empties the vacuum, but even cleans the mopping pads for a truly hands-free experience.” — Samantha Mangino, Shopping Reporter

More robot vacuum deals

More robot vacuum and mop deals

Best smartwatch deals

Why we picked this

“The Garmin vívoactive 5 was recently replaced as the newest model by the vívoactive 6, but the 5 still holds a special place in our hearts. This is what we’d call a perfect all-rounder fitness tracker, perfect for tracking long runs and cycles while also still having a great range of lifestyle features like sleep tracking, stress levels, and body battery. It’s also a vast improvement over the vívoactive 4, and even has a bright AMOLED display, making it appear even more high-tech.” — Lois Mackenzie, Mashable contributor

Mashable Deals

More smartwatch deals

Best kitchen deal

Why we picked this

“Ninja makes some of our favorite kitchen appliances, and the Foodi line is a standout in the brand’s countertop lineup. This indoor grill lets you easily make burgers, steaks, chops, and other meat dishes when you don’t feel like grilling, and it comes with a built-in meat thermometer.” — Timothy Beck Werth, Tech Editor

More kitchen deals

Best home essentials deal

“Prime Day sales are the perfect time to restock your home or apartment with essentials like paper towels, cleaning products, batteries, and health necessities. An always-reliable Prime Day deal is Crest Whitestrips, and once again, they’re on a great discount before we head into October’s sale. The 22-treatment set has 44 strips in total, and it’s on sale for $29.99, which works out to a sweet 35% discount compared to the usual price of $45.99. Plus, this deal qualifies for Proctor and Gamble’s buy two, get $5 off coupon deal, so if you snag two boxes of Whitestrips, you’ll be saving even more.” — Lauren Allain, Mashable contributor

More essentials deals

Best Lego deal

Why we like it

“For those looking to get a head start on holiday shopping, Lego’s advent calendars are a very fun pick-up. It’s even better when they can be found on sale. Right now, the 2025 Lego Minecraft Advent Calendar is down to its best price at Amazon, dropping from $44.99 to $38.49. If you’re looking to grab one for the kids to enjoy over the holidays, now is a great time to jump on it.” — Hannah Hoolihan, Mashable contributor

More Lego deals

Best beauty deal

Why we like it

“If you were using Prime Day as an excuse to finally buy the Shark CryoGlow or Shark FlexFusion, don’t stress yourself out by choosing between them. Simply get both. Amazon has revived its July Prime Day bundle featuring the Shark CryoGlow red light mask and Shark FlexFusion hair styler, getting you both for $499.99. That’s essentially scoring the unique wet and dry hair styler and the best red light mask on the market for $249.99 each — they regularly cost $349.99 each when purchased separately.” — Leah Stodart, Senior Shopping Reporter

More beauty deals

Best outdoor deal

Why we like it

“A portable power station is one of the most useful items you can buy for your home this year. They’ve seen major advancements in both battery technology and user-friendliness recently, and the Anker Solix C1000 portable power station is a standout model. It’s an ideal combination of power (1,056Wh), plenty of ports, and it’s on sale for Prime Day for $379, which is the lowest price Amazon has ever offered.” — Lauren Allain, Mashable contributor

Read Mashable’s full review of the Anker Solix C1000.

More portable power station deals

  • EcoFlow Trail 300 DC — $139 $538 (save $399) + get a free EcoFlow USB-C charger 🔥

  • Anker Solix C300 DC — $149.99 $249.99 (save $100)

  • Jackery Explorer 300 — $159 $259 (save $100) 🔥

  • Jackery Explorer 240 v2 — $174 $249 (save $75) 🔥

  • Bluetti Elite 30 V2 — $189 $249 (save $60) 🔥

  • Anker Solix PowerHouse 535 — $299 $499.99 (save $200.99) 🔥

  • Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 — $349 $799 (save $450) 🔥

  • EcoFlow River 2 and River 3 Plus — $369 $538 (save $169)

  • Anker Solix C800 Plus — $399 $649 (save $250) 🔥

  • EcoFlow Delta 3 — $483 $699 (save $216) 🔥

  • Bluetti AC180 Solar Generator with 200W Solar Panel — $645.03 $1,099 🔥

  • Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 — $699 $1,499 (save $800) 🔥

  • Bluetti AC200L — $699 $1,599 (save $1,300) 🔥

  • Anker Solix F2000 — $799 $1,999 (save $1,050) 🔥

  • Anker Solix C1000 with 400W Solar Panel — $849 $1,998 (save $1,149) 🔥

  • EcoFlow Delta 2 Max + free 45W solar panel — $899 $1,699 (save $800) 🔥

  • Jackery HomePower 3600 Plus — $1,499 $1,799 (save $300) 🔥

  • Bluetti Apex 300 — $1,499 $2,399 (save $900) 🔥

Cooler deals

Outdoor cooking deals

Tent deals

More outdoor deals

Best creator-approved deal

Why we like it

The DJI Mic Mini is one of the best upgrades for content creators looking to up their audio game — with two transmitters, a receiver with level controls, a charging case, companion app, clip magnets, and four windscreens, this pocket mic comes with all the essentials — and it sounds great. Mashable’s Bethany Allard wrote with her experience using the mic that it “offers a lot of versatility, and for a great value. That makes it a solid option for making vlogs and TikToks, and for anyone who feels less than confident with their tech skills — once I plugged the receiver into my phone, the mics connected easily and started working with the camera app automatically.”

Read more about the DJI Mic Mini.

More creator-approved deals

Live

Latest Updates




59 minutes ago | October 8, 2025

To keep things fresh, Amazon drops various lighting deals throughout its shopping events. So, while you have until the end of the day to shop most of the Prime Big Deal Days sales, these discounts are on a ticking clock:

1 hour ago | October 8, 2025

As of this writing, the Beats Pill x Kim Kardashian speaker is out of stock at Amazon. Interestingly, the used versions of the speaker are actually priced higher than the new speaker was on sale.

1 hour ago | October 8, 2025

Big sales like this are prime time (get it?!) for all of us to stock up on the essentials — but especially parents. Here are our top picks.

Diapers

Wipes

2 hours ago | October 8, 2025

Amazon loves its perks, and we’re not mad about it. Prime members already get access to Grubhub+ for a year when they sign up, unlocking $0 delivery fees. And on Oct. 8, you can get an exclusive deal: Get $10 off any order of $20+ using the promo code DEALS10.

Please note this offer is only valid today.

2 hours ago | October 8, 2025

Our favorite robot vacuum deal of Prime Big Deal Days has gotten $20 cheaper on day two of the sale. Snag the iRobot Roomba Plus 405 Combo + AutoWash Dock for its lowest-ever price of $379.99, or a whopping 53% off. For comparison’s sake, it’s stuck at $499.99 at Best Buy and on iRobot’s own website.

2 hours ago | October 8, 2025

Heads up: Insignia’s $399.99 75-inch Insignia QLED TV, our top TV deal this Prime Day, might be unavailable depending on your location. If that’s the case, we recommend Hisense’s 65-inch E6 Cinema Series QLED 4K Fire TV as an alternative for big-screen budget shoppers. It’s currently marked down to $369.99, or $180 off — a record low.

3 hours ago | October 8, 2025

When our shopping reporters spot a good deal, they don’t just take Amazon’s word for it. We also use the price-tracking tool CamelCamelCamel to check that product’s price history.

Simply copy a product’s Amazon URL and paste it into CamelCamelCamel’s search bar to produce a chart showing its compete price history over the years. You’ll find out whether the product you’re eyeing is sitting at an unmissable all-time low, or if its current “sale price” is actually its everyday price tag.

3 hours ago | October 8, 2025

This might be one of our favorite Prime Day deals so far. The Beats Pill x Kim Kardashian Bluetooth Speaker started Prime Day with a discount to $79.99, but it’s now dropped all the way to $49.99. According to CamelCamelCamel, that beats its lowest price ever by nearly $50. We almost never say this, but it feels like Amazon is trying to give these speakers away.

4 hours ago | October 8, 2025

A new all-time low on our favorite Windows laptop? Yes please. The 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 with a peppy Snapdragon X Elite processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage is only $919.99 if you go for the dune color. (Meanwhile, it’s $130 pricier at Best Buy during its Techtober Sale.) Per our reviewer, this machine has “nearly 23 hours of battery life and MacBook-beating performance.”

4 hours ago | October 8, 2025

The original Bose QuietComfort Ultra are some of the comfiest headphones we’ve ever tried, and their limited-edition deep plum variant is still in stock at $299 (or $130 off list price). A Lightning Deal that popped up in the first half of Prime Big Deal Days briefly brought them down to $984.99, but this is still an great price on a great pair of noise-cancelling cans. All of the other colors are $30 pricier!

5 hours ago | October 8, 2025

In an October Prime Day miracle, the 15-inch M4 Apple MacBook Air — our favorite MacBook for most people — has dipped an extra $20 since yesterday. The base model is usually priced at $1,199, but you’ll pay $979. That’s an unprecedented 18% savings. Best Buy is matching it, too.

So far, this is the only Apple gadget we’ve encountered that’s gotten cheaper for the second half of Prime Big Deal Days.

7 hours ago | October 8, 2025

We’re back for Day 2 of the Amazon Big Deal Days sale. We’ve refreshed our list with the latest and greatest deals available on the site right now.

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#Amazon #October #Prime #Day #top #deals #shop

TL;DR: Give your PC a total refresh with the Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows Lifetime License and Windows 11 Pro Bundle, on sale now for just $34.97 (reg. $418.99) through May 31.


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By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

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                                                            TL;DR: Give your PC a total refresh with the Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows Lifetime License and Windows 11 Pro Bundle, on sale now for just .97 (reg. 8.99) through May 31.
    
    
    
        
                                        
                                        
                    
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If you don’t have hundreds of dollars lying around for a brand new laptop, don’t worry. The Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows Lifetime License and Windows 11 Pro Bundle gives you the next best thing — fresh tools and an updated operating system to make your old PC feel shiny and new (to you).The even better news is that you can get it all for just .97 (reg. 8.99) through May 31.
    Mashable Deals
        
            
            
            
            
            
                By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
            
        
    

You’d be surprised what some fresh Microsoft tools and a new OS can do for your tried-and-true PC. This bundle can really spruce up an old device, starting with a mix of classic and new favorites in this Microsoft Office suite.Microsoft Office Professional 2021 equips your computer with a suite of eight helpful apps. Get old staples you’ve used for decades, like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Then see how new favorites like Teams, OneNote, Access, and Publisher can upgrade your workflow.You don’t only get new tools to work with — you get a whole new operating system thanks to Windows 11 Pro. This bundle includes an OS designed with modern professionals in mind, featuring a powerful search experience, improved voice typing, snap layouts, and more.If you haven’t been prioritizing your cybersecurity, you can rest easy knowing Windows 11 Pro amps things up. It offers biometric logins, encrypted authentication, and advanced antivirus defenses that can help keep your important data safe.
        
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                        By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
                    
                
                        
        
    
Take advantage of this deal on an Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows Lifetime License and Windows 11 Pro Bundle, on sale now for only .97 until May 31.StackSocial prices subject to change.

                    
                                            
                            
                        
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Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows Lifetime License and Windows 11 Pro Bundle, on sale now for just $34.97 (reg. $418.99) through May 31.


$34.97
$418.99 Save $384.02

 

If you don’t have hundreds of dollars lying around for a brand new laptop, don’t worry. The Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows Lifetime License and Windows 11 Pro Bundle gives you the next best thing — fresh tools and an updated operating system to make your old PC feel shiny and new (to you).

The even better news is that you can get it all for just $34.97 (reg. $418.99) through May 31.

Mashable Deals

By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

You’d be surprised what some fresh Microsoft tools and a new OS can do for your tried-and-true PC. This bundle can really spruce up an old device, starting with a mix of classic and new favorites in this Microsoft Office suite.

Microsoft Office Professional 2021 equips your computer with a suite of eight helpful apps. Get old staples you’ve used for decades, like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Then see how new favorites like Teams, OneNote, Access, and Publisher can upgrade your workflow.

You don’t only get new tools to work with — you get a whole new operating system thanks to Windows 11 Pro. This bundle includes an OS designed with modern professionals in mind, featuring a powerful search experience, improved voice typing, snap layouts, and more.

If you haven’t been prioritizing your cybersecurity, you can rest easy knowing Windows 11 Pro amps things up. It offers biometric logins, encrypted authentication, and advanced antivirus defenses that can help keep your important data safe.

Take advantage of this deal on an Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows Lifetime License and Windows 11 Pro Bundle, on sale now for only $34.97 until May 31.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

#Modernize #Microsoft #bundle">Modernize your PC for just $35 with this Microsoft bundle

TL;DR: Give your PC a total refresh with the Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows Lifetime License and Windows 11 Pro Bundle, on sale now for just $34.97 (reg. $418.99) through May 31.


$34.97
$418.99 Save $384.02

 

If you don’t have hundreds of dollars lying around for a brand new laptop, don’t worry. The Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows Lifetime License and Windows 11 Pro Bundle gives you the next best thing — fresh tools and an updated operating system to make your old PC feel shiny and new (to you).

The even better news is that you can get it all for just $34.97 (reg. $418.99) through May 31.

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Hello and welcome to Regulator, a newsletter for Verge subscribers about technology, politics, and technology learning how to politick. If you’re not a subscriber but would like to support our work, please subscribe here. I promise that your money will not go toward paying for a drone-proof ballroom for The Verge staff, no matter how much fun we’d have throwing parties there.

Speaking of parties: The Verge normally wouldn’t do a party report from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner week, also known as “Nerd Prom,” because it’s a bit too much Washington insider circle-jerking for normal people to stomach. (This year was weirder than most, considering that the dinner was targeted by an attempted shooter, it was immediately canceled, and the media insiders kept partying anyway.) But I will make an exception for the party thrown by Grindr — “a midsize tech company that happens to be gay,” as Joe Hack, Grindr’s head of global government affairs — which took place the night before the dinner and can therefore stand on its own. And really, there’s a lot to unpack with this event: In an era of resurgent LGBTQ panic, why did a gay dating app with a reputation for facilitating hookups decide to throw a house party for those Washington insiders? Why did they do it this year, during peak Washington insider social season? And why did they let the media cover it?

Before we answer that question, as always, send any tips, notices, etc. to tina.nguyen+tips@theverge.com.

If someone had said that lobbyists for a publicly traded tech company were hosting a cocktail party on the eve of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, no one would pencil it on the calendar. But when Grindr began sending out invites, Washington immediately convulsed with thirst: Grindr? The “gay dating and hookup app”? Throwing a party? The scandal-hungry TMZ interviewed Hack for a segment and sent their Congress reporters to ask Republican officials for their opinions. The Advocate wrote about the power jockeying inside LGBTQ circles to get a ticket. Writer Josh Barro tweeted that he couldn’t RSVP in time. The Onion wrote an article about the “poppers lobbyists” expected to attend. DC seemed to vibrate with a hope that this party would be somehow different from the usual fare.

But even if they were horny for, well, horniness, they’d be temperamentally incapable of expressing it. Washingtonians, Republicans and Democrats alike, are too afraid to ever break decorum in social settings, because their coworkers, bosses, or James O’Keefe might be lurking around the corner with a camera. (James O’Keefe later insinuated that he sent an undercover mole to the party.) By the time everyone was kicked out at midnight, the most risqué thing I’d witnessed was one passionate kiss (no tongue). The shenanigans were pretty much limited to people thinking about jumping into the pool fully clothed in suits and cocktail dresses — but only, they shrieked, if people put away their cameras. “Please, god, I hope someone jumps in,” muttered a Washington Post reporter with a notebook, as his photographer colleague snapped pictures of the free spirits brave enough to stick their feet in the pool.

Still, this was the Grindr party, the hottest ticket of Nerd Prom, and every journalist, senior administration official, politician, publicist, staffer, lobbyist, influencer, you name it, had been trying to get on the invite list for the past week. For once, the social order was flipped: Sure, a tech company was throwing a party to curry influence in Washington. But this time, influence was begging to be let in. By 9PM, when I arrived, the line was already out the door, and well-connected people arriving in black cars were directed to the end of the street. “We’re at capacity,” the PR assistants at the front told me, frowning at their iPads, and for a moment I wondered whether they were strategically implementing artificial scarcity.

It turned out that the party was at capacity. I just had to do some aggressive name-dropping to get in and go past the foyer.

There’s a general slate of high-end fancy places that party planners fight over for the week— Meridian House! The Four Seasons! The French ambassador’s residence! — but this unassuming Georgetown mansion, built in 1840, was new to the scene. In 2022, a luxury real estate group purchased the mansion for just under $9 million, gutted the 11,000-square-foot Federal-style interior, and reopened it in late 2024 as a high-end rental aimed at the modern, discreet billionaire or Saudi royal: soothing beige walls, designer statement chandeliers, massive tables for huge floral arrangements and pyramids of boxes of burgers and french fries. But the gardens. Oh, the gardens. Somehow, over the past two centuries, the owners had carved out a full half acre of real estate in Georgetown and transformed it into a lush paradise of wandering pathways among boxwoods and trees, burbling fountains and marble statues, terraces enclosed in hedges, hidden greenhouses, and a swimming pool behind ivy-covered walls about two stories tall.

And the gardens were packed with hundreds of DC’s “power gays” (as UnHerd’s John Maier put it) from across the political spectrum, all of whom had been working in Washington for decades and knew the traditional party spots, but had never known this mansion even existed until now.

Not that it was a party strictly for the power gays, mind you — but their allies had to be powerful and connected, too. “I had 10,000 people message me about this,” Hack told me (a straight woman) once I got in. The intrigue over a Grindr party may have done a bit of the heavy lifting, but this was supposed to be just a cocktail party, just one stop on the Friday evening party circuit between the Washingtonian party at the Four Seasons and the UTA event at Isla. Except people weren’t leaving. It might have taken five minutes to get a glass of wine, to say nothing of a made-to-order espresso martini, and getting up the stairs required too much crowd navigation. They wanted to stay, even when the liquor ran out well before midnight.

“Obviously there’s a huge number of Democrats in this country who have done a lot of incredible work on behalf of gay rights, and we work very closely with them,” Grindr CEO George Arison told me, yelling over Daft Punk blasting on the outdoor speakers. “But there are also plenty of Republicans we work with as well, and they are both on the Hill and in the administration. It is a fact that there are a lot of very powerful gay Republicans in this administration. If you probably add up them in total, they have more power than gays have ever had. I mean, one of the four most powerful people in the world right now is a gay man.” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — the gay man who “runs the economy,” as Arison described him, laughing — had been invited, and though he didn’t attend, Shane Shannon, one of his senior officials, did show up, according to Hack. In Washington insider terms, that’s basically tacit approval.

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24: General atmosphere during Grindr White House Correspondents’ Dinner Weekend Party 2026 at LXIV DC on April 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Grindr Inc.)

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 24: General atmosphere during Grindr White House Correspondents’ Dinner Weekend Party 2026 at LXIV DC on April 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Grindr Inc.)
Getty Images for Grindr Inc.

When he started planning the event, Hack, a political strategist who’d worked the WHCD circuit for two decades straight, made a deliberate choice: Grindr would not partner with a media organization for the event, bucking the trend of companies collaborating with news outlets for a proper celebration of the free press pretext. Instead, Grindr was celebrating the First Amendment right to freedom of expression, which does count as a pretext to slot the party into Nerd Prom week — but also, Hack emphasized, allowed Grindr’s priorities to take center stage. “I wanted this to be clear that this was our event. I didn’t want to dilute that attention.”

Several Washington outlets published articles focused on Grindr’s political priorities, in the very staid way that Washington outlets tend to do. Vanity Fair reported that Hack, a Republican and former chief of staff to Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), had built Grindr’s relationships with House Republicans to shape the App Store Accountability Act, which placed the responsibility for age verification requirements on the app stores rather than the apps themselves. Politico noted that Grindr had “poured $1.6 million into its influence operation since it registered to lobby federal lawmakers in April 2025,” and was now working on a slate of hard policy issues beyond the App Store Accountability Act: kids’ online safety within the national AI framework, IVF and surrogacy access, and its biggest goal, federal funding for HIV prevention. (Hack told me that they were about to announce the hiring of his Democrat counterpart.)

But there was more to the party’s objectives than the lobbying disclosures. Without a second brand involved, Grindr had full control of the party’s atmosphere and how to present itself. It was Grindr’s decision to host the party in this mansion, to opt for burgers and oyster shuckers over passed canapes, to curate the guest list and select their invitees and set the tone of the evening: somewhere between networking event and tie-loosening “having a good time,” as one Republican told me, but well short of anything that could give conservatives ammo in the culture wars.

In short: Grindr was a good political partner for Democrats and Republicans, even in Donald Trump’s administration. And while several big names did show up to the party — Don Lemon, Ken Martin, David Urban, Keith Edwards, Jon Lovett (who ribbed the alcohol situation on Jimmy Kimmel Live the next day) — the vast majority of people at the party were arguably more important to win over. It was senior political staffers, journalists, lobbyists, advisers at interest groups, pollsters, and everyone with some hand in drafting the laws before the electeds vote on them.

Was it typical quote-unquote allyship? Not in the public sense, and don’t expect Trump officials marching hand in hand with the progressive caucus during Pride. But Hack emphasized that while Grindr was “in many ways, just another midsize tech company that happens to be gay,” company leadership felt an urgent responsibility to protect their user base. The upfront way to do that was through policy wins and shaping laws, but he also felt like Grindr had to go one step further than other dating apps: “It’s also a moment where you see a lot of corporations stepping back from their commitments to our community.”

Implicit in his statement was a painful reality: After a decade of advances, LGBTQ rights are slowly being eroded across the country. Several Republican states are petitioning the US Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Funding has been stripped from health services for LGBTQ Americans. The federal government is quietly eliminating benefits for same-sex couples. And if certain online safety laws pass and the anonymity of the internet disappears, the possibility of a Grindr user being outed and punished for expressing their sexuality is all but a given.

And that is what the politicking is for. “We feel, I think, even more of an urgent need to have a seat at the table,” said Hack. “There’s an old saying in Washington: that if you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu.”

The boys were also there:

Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
#Grindr #Grindr #won #WHCD #party #circuitColumn,Policy,Politics,Regulator">Grindr — yes, Grindr — won the WHCD party circuitHello and welcome to Regulator, a newsletter for Verge subscribers about technology, politics, and technology learning how to politick. If you’re not a subscriber but would like to support our work, please subscribe here. I promise that your money will not go toward paying for a drone-proof ballroom for The Verge staff, no matter how much fun we’d have throwing parties there.Speaking of parties: The Verge normally wouldn’t do a party report from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner week, also known as “Nerd Prom,” because it’s a bit too much Washington insider circle-jerking for normal people to stomach. (This year was weirder than most, considering that the dinner was targeted by an attempted shooter, it was immediately canceled, and the media insiders kept partying anyway.) But I will make an exception for the party thrown by Grindr — “a midsize tech company that happens to be gay,” as Joe Hack, Grindr’s head of global government affairs — which took place the night before the dinner and can therefore stand on its own. And really, there’s a lot to unpack with this event: In an era of resurgent LGBTQ panic, why did a gay dating app with a reputation for facilitating hookups decide to throw a house party for those Washington insiders? Why did they do it this year, during peak Washington insider social season? And why did they let the media cover it?Before we answer that question, as always, send any tips, notices, etc. to tina.nguyen+tips@theverge.com.If someone had said that lobbyists for a publicly traded tech company were hosting a cocktail party on the eve of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, no one would pencil it on the calendar. But when Grindr began sending out invites, Washington immediately convulsed with thirst: Grindr? The “gay dating and hookup app”? Throwing a party? The scandal-hungry TMZ interviewed Hack for a segment and sent their Congress reporters to ask Republican officials for their opinions. The Advocate wrote about the power jockeying inside LGBTQ circles to get a ticket. Writer Josh Barro tweeted that he couldn’t RSVP in time. The Onion wrote an article about the “poppers lobbyists” expected to attend. DC seemed to vibrate with a hope that this party would be somehow different from the usual fare.But even if they were horny for, well, horniness, they’d be temperamentally incapable of expressing it. Washingtonians, Republicans and Democrats alike, are too afraid to ever break decorum in social settings, because their coworkers, bosses, or James O’Keefe might be lurking around the corner with a camera. (James O’Keefe later insinuated that he sent an undercover mole to the party.) By the time everyone was kicked out at midnight, the most risqué thing I’d witnessed was one passionate kiss (no tongue). The shenanigans were pretty much limited to people thinking about jumping into the pool fully clothed in suits and cocktail dresses — but only, they shrieked, if people put away their cameras. “Please, god, I hope someone jumps in,” muttered a Washington Post reporter with a notebook, as his photographer colleague snapped pictures of the free spirits brave enough to stick their feet in the pool.Still, this was the Grindr party, the hottest ticket of Nerd Prom, and every journalist, senior administration official, politician, publicist, staffer, lobbyist, influencer, you name it, had been trying to get on the invite list for the past week. For once, the social order was flipped: Sure, a tech company was throwing a party to curry influence in Washington. But this time, influence was begging to be let in. By 9PM, when I arrived, the line was already out the door, and well-connected people arriving in black cars were directed to the end of the street. “We’re at capacity,” the PR assistants at the front told me, frowning at their iPads, and for a moment I wondered whether they were strategically implementing artificial scarcity.It turned out that the party was at capacity. I just had to do some aggressive name-dropping to get in and go past the foyer.There’s a general slate of high-end fancy places that party planners fight over for the week— Meridian House! The Four Seasons! The French ambassador’s residence! — but this unassuming Georgetown mansion, built in 1840, was new to the scene. In 2022, a luxury real estate group purchased the mansion for just under  million, gutted the 11,000-square-foot Federal-style interior, and reopened it in late 2024 as a high-end rental aimed at the modern, discreet billionaire or Saudi royal: soothing beige walls, designer statement chandeliers, massive tables for huge floral arrangements and pyramids of boxes of burgers and french fries. But the gardens. Oh, the gardens. Somehow, over the past two centuries, the owners had carved out a full half acre of real estate in Georgetown and transformed it into a lush paradise of wandering pathways among boxwoods and trees, burbling fountains and marble statues, terraces enclosed in hedges, hidden greenhouses, and a swimming pool behind ivy-covered walls about two stories tall.And the gardens were packed with hundreds of DC’s “power gays” (as UnHerd’s John Maier put it) from across the political spectrum, all of whom had been working in Washington for decades and knew the traditional party spots, but had never known this mansion even existed until now.Not that it was a party strictly for the power gays, mind you — but their allies had to be powerful and connected, too. “I had 10,000 people message me about this,” Hack told me (a straight woman) once I got in. The intrigue over a Grindr party may have done a bit of the heavy lifting, but this was supposed to be just a cocktail party, just one stop on the Friday evening party circuit between the Washingtonian party at the Four Seasons and the UTA event at Isla. Except people weren’t leaving. It might have taken five minutes to get a glass of wine, to say nothing of a made-to-order espresso martini, and getting up the stairs required too much crowd navigation. They wanted to stay, even when the liquor ran out well before midnight.“Obviously there’s a huge number of Democrats in this country who have done a lot of incredible work on behalf of gay rights, and we work very closely with them,” Grindr CEO George Arison told me, yelling over Daft Punk blasting on the outdoor speakers. “But there are also plenty of Republicans we work with as well, and they are both on the Hill and in the administration. It is a fact that there are a lot of very powerful gay Republicans in this administration. If you probably add up them in total, they have more power than gays have ever had. I mean, one of the four most powerful people in the world right now is a gay man.” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — the gay man who “runs the economy,” as Arison described him, laughing — had been invited, and though he didn’t attend, Shane Shannon, one of his senior officials, did show up, according to Hack. In Washington insider terms, that’s basically tacit approval.WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 24: General atmosphere during Grindr White House Correspondents’ Dinner Weekend Party 2026 at LXIV DC on April 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Grindr Inc.) Getty Images for Grindr Inc.When he started planning the event, Hack, a political strategist who’d worked the WHCD circuit for two decades straight, made a deliberate choice: Grindr would not partner with a media organization for the event, bucking the trend of companies collaborating with news outlets for a proper celebration of the free press pretext. Instead, Grindr was celebrating the First Amendment right to freedom of expression, which does count as a pretext to slot the party into Nerd Prom week — but also, Hack emphasized, allowed Grindr’s priorities to take center stage. “I wanted this to be clear that this was our event. I didn’t want to dilute that attention.”Several Washington outlets published articles focused on Grindr’s political priorities, in the very staid way that Washington outlets tend to do. Vanity Fair reported that Hack, a Republican and former chief of staff to Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), had built Grindr’s relationships with House Republicans to shape the App Store Accountability Act, which placed the responsibility for age verification requirements on the app stores rather than the apps themselves. Politico noted that Grindr had “poured .6 million into its influence operation since it registered to lobby federal lawmakers in April 2025,” and was now working on a slate of hard policy issues beyond the App Store Accountability Act: kids’ online safety within the national AI framework, IVF and surrogacy access, and its biggest goal, federal funding for HIV prevention. (Hack told me that they were about to announce the hiring of his Democrat counterpart.)But there was more to the party’s objectives than the lobbying disclosures. Without a second brand involved, Grindr had full control of the party’s atmosphere and how to present itself. It was Grindr’s decision to host the party in this mansion, to opt for burgers and oyster shuckers over passed canapes, to curate the guest list and select their invitees and set the tone of the evening: somewhere between networking event and tie-loosening “having a good time,” as one Republican told me, but well short of anything that could give conservatives ammo in the culture wars.In short: Grindr was a good political partner for Democrats and Republicans, even in Donald Trump’s administration. And while several big names did show up to the party — Don Lemon, Ken Martin, David Urban, Keith Edwards, Jon Lovett (who ribbed the alcohol situation on Jimmy Kimmel Live the next day) — the vast majority of people at the party were arguably more important to win over. It was senior political staffers, journalists, lobbyists, advisers at interest groups, pollsters, and everyone with some hand in drafting the laws before the electeds vote on them.Was it typical quote-unquote allyship? Not in the public sense, and don’t expect Trump officials marching hand in hand with the progressive caucus during Pride. But Hack emphasized that while Grindr was “in many ways, just another midsize tech company that happens to be gay,” company leadership felt an urgent responsibility to protect their user base. The upfront way to do that was through policy wins and shaping laws, but he also felt like Grindr had to go one step further than other dating apps: “It’s also a moment where you see a lot of corporations stepping back from their commitments to our community.”Implicit in his statement was a painful reality: After a decade of advances, LGBTQ rights are slowly being eroded across the country. Several Republican states are petitioning the US Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Funding has been stripped from health services for LGBTQ Americans. The federal government is quietly eliminating benefits for same-sex couples. And if certain online safety laws pass and the anonymity of the internet disappears, the possibility of a Grindr user being outed and punished for expressing their sexuality is all but a given.And that is what the politicking is for. “We feel, I think, even more of an urgent need to have a seat at the table,” said Hack. “There’s an old saying in Washington: that if you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu.”The boys were also there:Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Tina NguyenCloseTina NguyenSenior Reporter, WashingtonPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Tina NguyenColumnCloseColumnPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All ColumnPolicyClosePolicyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All PolicyPoliticsClosePoliticsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All PoliticsRegulatorCloseRegulatorPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All Regulator#Grindr #Grindr #won #WHCD #party #circuitColumn,Policy,Politics,Regulator

please subscribe here. I promise that your money will not go toward paying for a drone-proof ballroom for The Verge staff, no matter how much fun we’d have throwing parties there.

Speaking of parties: The Verge normally wouldn’t do a party report from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner week, also known as “Nerd Prom,” because it’s a bit too much Washington insider circle-jerking for normal people to stomach. (This year was weirder than most, considering that the dinner was targeted by an attempted shooter, it was immediately canceled, and the media insiders kept partying anyway.) But I will make an exception for the party thrown by Grindr — “a midsize tech company that happens to be gay,” as Joe Hack, Grindr’s head of global government affairs — which took place the night before the dinner and can therefore stand on its own. And really, there’s a lot to unpack with this event: In an era of resurgent LGBTQ panic, why did a gay dating app with a reputation for facilitating hookups decide to throw a house party for those Washington insiders? Why did they do it this year, during peak Washington insider social season? And why did they let the media cover it?

Before we answer that question, as always, send any tips, notices, etc. to tina.nguyen+tips@theverge.com.

If someone had said that lobbyists for a publicly traded tech company were hosting a cocktail party on the eve of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, no one would pencil it on the calendar. But when Grindr began sending out invites, Washington immediately convulsed with thirst: Grindr? The “gay dating and hookup app”? Throwing a party? The scandal-hungry TMZ interviewed Hack for a segment and sent their Congress reporters to ask Republican officials for their opinions. The Advocate wrote about the power jockeying inside LGBTQ circles to get a ticket. Writer Josh Barro tweeted that he couldn’t RSVP in time. The Onion wrote an article about the “poppers lobbyists” expected to attend. DC seemed to vibrate with a hope that this party would be somehow different from the usual fare.

But even if they were horny for, well, horniness, they’d be temperamentally incapable of expressing it. Washingtonians, Republicans and Democrats alike, are too afraid to ever break decorum in social settings, because their coworkers, bosses, or James O’Keefe might be lurking around the corner with a camera. (James O’Keefe later insinuated that he sent an undercover mole to the party.) By the time everyone was kicked out at midnight, the most risqué thing I’d witnessed was one passionate kiss (no tongue). The shenanigans were pretty much limited to people thinking about jumping into the pool fully clothed in suits and cocktail dresses — but only, they shrieked, if people put away their cameras. “Please, god, I hope someone jumps in,” muttered a Washington Post reporter with a notebook, as his photographer colleague snapped pictures of the free spirits brave enough to stick their feet in the pool.

Still, this was the Grindr party, the hottest ticket of Nerd Prom, and every journalist, senior administration official, politician, publicist, staffer, lobbyist, influencer, you name it, had been trying to get on the invite list for the past week. For once, the social order was flipped: Sure, a tech company was throwing a party to curry influence in Washington. But this time, influence was begging to be let in. By 9PM, when I arrived, the line was already out the door, and well-connected people arriving in black cars were directed to the end of the street. “We’re at capacity,” the PR assistants at the front told me, frowning at their iPads, and for a moment I wondered whether they were strategically implementing artificial scarcity.

It turned out that the party was at capacity. I just had to do some aggressive name-dropping to get in and go past the foyer.

There’s a general slate of high-end fancy places that party planners fight over for the week— Meridian House! The Four Seasons! The French ambassador’s residence! — but this unassuming Georgetown mansion, built in 1840, was new to the scene. In 2022, a luxury real estate group purchased the mansion for just under $9 million, gutted the 11,000-square-foot Federal-style interior, and reopened it in late 2024 as a high-end rental aimed at the modern, discreet billionaire or Saudi royal: soothing beige walls, designer statement chandeliers, massive tables for huge floral arrangements and pyramids of boxes of burgers and french fries. But the gardens. Oh, the gardens. Somehow, over the past two centuries, the owners had carved out a full half acre of real estate in Georgetown and transformed it into a lush paradise of wandering pathways among boxwoods and trees, burbling fountains and marble statues, terraces enclosed in hedges, hidden greenhouses, and a swimming pool behind ivy-covered walls about two stories tall.

And the gardens were packed with hundreds of DC’s “power gays” (as UnHerd’s John Maier put it) from across the political spectrum, all of whom had been working in Washington for decades and knew the traditional party spots, but had never known this mansion even existed until now.

Not that it was a party strictly for the power gays, mind you — but their allies had to be powerful and connected, too. “I had 10,000 people message me about this,” Hack told me (a straight woman) once I got in. The intrigue over a Grindr party may have done a bit of the heavy lifting, but this was supposed to be just a cocktail party, just one stop on the Friday evening party circuit between the Washingtonian party at the Four Seasons and the UTA event at Isla. Except people weren’t leaving. It might have taken five minutes to get a glass of wine, to say nothing of a made-to-order espresso martini, and getting up the stairs required too much crowd navigation. They wanted to stay, even when the liquor ran out well before midnight.

“Obviously there’s a huge number of Democrats in this country who have done a lot of incredible work on behalf of gay rights, and we work very closely with them,” Grindr CEO George Arison told me, yelling over Daft Punk blasting on the outdoor speakers. “But there are also plenty of Republicans we work with as well, and they are both on the Hill and in the administration. It is a fact that there are a lot of very powerful gay Republicans in this administration. If you probably add up them in total, they have more power than gays have ever had. I mean, one of the four most powerful people in the world right now is a gay man.” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — the gay man who “runs the economy,” as Arison described him, laughing — had been invited, and though he didn’t attend, Shane Shannon, one of his senior officials, did show up, according to Hack. In Washington insider terms, that’s basically tacit approval.

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24: General atmosphere during Grindr White House Correspondents’ Dinner Weekend Party 2026 at LXIV DC on April 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Grindr Inc.)

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 24: General atmosphere during Grindr White House Correspondents’ Dinner Weekend Party 2026 at LXIV DC on April 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Grindr Inc.)
Getty Images for Grindr Inc.

When he started planning the event, Hack, a political strategist who’d worked the WHCD circuit for two decades straight, made a deliberate choice: Grindr would not partner with a media organization for the event, bucking the trend of companies collaborating with news outlets for a proper celebration of the free press pretext. Instead, Grindr was celebrating the First Amendment right to freedom of expression, which does count as a pretext to slot the party into Nerd Prom week — but also, Hack emphasized, allowed Grindr’s priorities to take center stage. “I wanted this to be clear that this was our event. I didn’t want to dilute that attention.”

Several Washington outlets published articles focused on Grindr’s political priorities, in the very staid way that Washington outlets tend to do. Vanity Fair reported that Hack, a Republican and former chief of staff to Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), had built Grindr’s relationships with House Republicans to shape the App Store Accountability Act, which placed the responsibility for age verification requirements on the app stores rather than the apps themselves. Politico noted that Grindr had “poured $1.6 million into its influence operation since it registered to lobby federal lawmakers in April 2025,” and was now working on a slate of hard policy issues beyond the App Store Accountability Act: kids’ online safety within the national AI framework, IVF and surrogacy access, and its biggest goal, federal funding for HIV prevention. (Hack told me that they were about to announce the hiring of his Democrat counterpart.)

But there was more to the party’s objectives than the lobbying disclosures. Without a second brand involved, Grindr had full control of the party’s atmosphere and how to present itself. It was Grindr’s decision to host the party in this mansion, to opt for burgers and oyster shuckers over passed canapes, to curate the guest list and select their invitees and set the tone of the evening: somewhere between networking event and tie-loosening “having a good time,” as one Republican told me, but well short of anything that could give conservatives ammo in the culture wars.

In short: Grindr was a good political partner for Democrats and Republicans, even in Donald Trump’s administration. And while several big names did show up to the party — Don Lemon, Ken Martin, David Urban, Keith Edwards, Jon Lovett (who ribbed the alcohol situation on Jimmy Kimmel Live the next day) — the vast majority of people at the party were arguably more important to win over. It was senior political staffers, journalists, lobbyists, advisers at interest groups, pollsters, and everyone with some hand in drafting the laws before the electeds vote on them.

Was it typical quote-unquote allyship? Not in the public sense, and don’t expect Trump officials marching hand in hand with the progressive caucus during Pride. But Hack emphasized that while Grindr was “in many ways, just another midsize tech company that happens to be gay,” company leadership felt an urgent responsibility to protect their user base. The upfront way to do that was through policy wins and shaping laws, but he also felt like Grindr had to go one step further than other dating apps: “It’s also a moment where you see a lot of corporations stepping back from their commitments to our community.”

Implicit in his statement was a painful reality: After a decade of advances, LGBTQ rights are slowly being eroded across the country. Several Republican states are petitioning the US Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Funding has been stripped from health services for LGBTQ Americans. The federal government is quietly eliminating benefits for same-sex couples. And if certain online safety laws pass and the anonymity of the internet disappears, the possibility of a Grindr user being outed and punished for expressing their sexuality is all but a given.

And that is what the politicking is for. “We feel, I think, even more of an urgent need to have a seat at the table,” said Hack. “There’s an old saying in Washington: that if you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu.”

The boys were also there:

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#Grindr #Grindr #won #WHCD #party #circuitColumn,Policy,Politics,Regulator">Grindr — yes, Grindr — won the WHCD party circuit

Hello and welcome to Regulator, a newsletter for Verge subscribers about technology, politics, and technology learning how to politick. If you’re not a subscriber but would like to support our work, please subscribe here. I promise that your money will not go toward paying for a drone-proof ballroom for The Verge staff, no matter how much fun we’d have throwing parties there.

Speaking of parties: The Verge normally wouldn’t do a party report from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner week, also known as “Nerd Prom,” because it’s a bit too much Washington insider circle-jerking for normal people to stomach. (This year was weirder than most, considering that the dinner was targeted by an attempted shooter, it was immediately canceled, and the media insiders kept partying anyway.) But I will make an exception for the party thrown by Grindr — “a midsize tech company that happens to be gay,” as Joe Hack, Grindr’s head of global government affairs — which took place the night before the dinner and can therefore stand on its own. And really, there’s a lot to unpack with this event: In an era of resurgent LGBTQ panic, why did a gay dating app with a reputation for facilitating hookups decide to throw a house party for those Washington insiders? Why did they do it this year, during peak Washington insider social season? And why did they let the media cover it?

Before we answer that question, as always, send any tips, notices, etc. to tina.nguyen+tips@theverge.com.

If someone had said that lobbyists for a publicly traded tech company were hosting a cocktail party on the eve of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, no one would pencil it on the calendar. But when Grindr began sending out invites, Washington immediately convulsed with thirst: Grindr? The “gay dating and hookup app”? Throwing a party? The scandal-hungry TMZ interviewed Hack for a segment and sent their Congress reporters to ask Republican officials for their opinions. The Advocate wrote about the power jockeying inside LGBTQ circles to get a ticket. Writer Josh Barro tweeted that he couldn’t RSVP in time. The Onion wrote an article about the “poppers lobbyists” expected to attend. DC seemed to vibrate with a hope that this party would be somehow different from the usual fare.

But even if they were horny for, well, horniness, they’d be temperamentally incapable of expressing it. Washingtonians, Republicans and Democrats alike, are too afraid to ever break decorum in social settings, because their coworkers, bosses, or James O’Keefe might be lurking around the corner with a camera. (James O’Keefe later insinuated that he sent an undercover mole to the party.) By the time everyone was kicked out at midnight, the most risqué thing I’d witnessed was one passionate kiss (no tongue). The shenanigans were pretty much limited to people thinking about jumping into the pool fully clothed in suits and cocktail dresses — but only, they shrieked, if people put away their cameras. “Please, god, I hope someone jumps in,” muttered a Washington Post reporter with a notebook, as his photographer colleague snapped pictures of the free spirits brave enough to stick their feet in the pool.

Still, this was the Grindr party, the hottest ticket of Nerd Prom, and every journalist, senior administration official, politician, publicist, staffer, lobbyist, influencer, you name it, had been trying to get on the invite list for the past week. For once, the social order was flipped: Sure, a tech company was throwing a party to curry influence in Washington. But this time, influence was begging to be let in. By 9PM, when I arrived, the line was already out the door, and well-connected people arriving in black cars were directed to the end of the street. “We’re at capacity,” the PR assistants at the front told me, frowning at their iPads, and for a moment I wondered whether they were strategically implementing artificial scarcity.

It turned out that the party was at capacity. I just had to do some aggressive name-dropping to get in and go past the foyer.

There’s a general slate of high-end fancy places that party planners fight over for the week— Meridian House! The Four Seasons! The French ambassador’s residence! — but this unassuming Georgetown mansion, built in 1840, was new to the scene. In 2022, a luxury real estate group purchased the mansion for just under $9 million, gutted the 11,000-square-foot Federal-style interior, and reopened it in late 2024 as a high-end rental aimed at the modern, discreet billionaire or Saudi royal: soothing beige walls, designer statement chandeliers, massive tables for huge floral arrangements and pyramids of boxes of burgers and french fries. But the gardens. Oh, the gardens. Somehow, over the past two centuries, the owners had carved out a full half acre of real estate in Georgetown and transformed it into a lush paradise of wandering pathways among boxwoods and trees, burbling fountains and marble statues, terraces enclosed in hedges, hidden greenhouses, and a swimming pool behind ivy-covered walls about two stories tall.

And the gardens were packed with hundreds of DC’s “power gays” (as UnHerd’s John Maier put it) from across the political spectrum, all of whom had been working in Washington for decades and knew the traditional party spots, but had never known this mansion even existed until now.

Not that it was a party strictly for the power gays, mind you — but their allies had to be powerful and connected, too. “I had 10,000 people message me about this,” Hack told me (a straight woman) once I got in. The intrigue over a Grindr party may have done a bit of the heavy lifting, but this was supposed to be just a cocktail party, just one stop on the Friday evening party circuit between the Washingtonian party at the Four Seasons and the UTA event at Isla. Except people weren’t leaving. It might have taken five minutes to get a glass of wine, to say nothing of a made-to-order espresso martini, and getting up the stairs required too much crowd navigation. They wanted to stay, even when the liquor ran out well before midnight.

“Obviously there’s a huge number of Democrats in this country who have done a lot of incredible work on behalf of gay rights, and we work very closely with them,” Grindr CEO George Arison told me, yelling over Daft Punk blasting on the outdoor speakers. “But there are also plenty of Republicans we work with as well, and they are both on the Hill and in the administration. It is a fact that there are a lot of very powerful gay Republicans in this administration. If you probably add up them in total, they have more power than gays have ever had. I mean, one of the four most powerful people in the world right now is a gay man.” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — the gay man who “runs the economy,” as Arison described him, laughing — had been invited, and though he didn’t attend, Shane Shannon, one of his senior officials, did show up, according to Hack. In Washington insider terms, that’s basically tacit approval.

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24: General atmosphere during Grindr White House Correspondents’ Dinner Weekend Party 2026 at LXIV DC on April 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Grindr Inc.)

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 24: General atmosphere during Grindr White House Correspondents’ Dinner Weekend Party 2026 at LXIV DC on April 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Grindr Inc.)
Getty Images for Grindr Inc.

When he started planning the event, Hack, a political strategist who’d worked the WHCD circuit for two decades straight, made a deliberate choice: Grindr would not partner with a media organization for the event, bucking the trend of companies collaborating with news outlets for a proper celebration of the free press pretext. Instead, Grindr was celebrating the First Amendment right to freedom of expression, which does count as a pretext to slot the party into Nerd Prom week — but also, Hack emphasized, allowed Grindr’s priorities to take center stage. “I wanted this to be clear that this was our event. I didn’t want to dilute that attention.”

Several Washington outlets published articles focused on Grindr’s political priorities, in the very staid way that Washington outlets tend to do. Vanity Fair reported that Hack, a Republican and former chief of staff to Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), had built Grindr’s relationships with House Republicans to shape the App Store Accountability Act, which placed the responsibility for age verification requirements on the app stores rather than the apps themselves. Politico noted that Grindr had “poured $1.6 million into its influence operation since it registered to lobby federal lawmakers in April 2025,” and was now working on a slate of hard policy issues beyond the App Store Accountability Act: kids’ online safety within the national AI framework, IVF and surrogacy access, and its biggest goal, federal funding for HIV prevention. (Hack told me that they were about to announce the hiring of his Democrat counterpart.)

But there was more to the party’s objectives than the lobbying disclosures. Without a second brand involved, Grindr had full control of the party’s atmosphere and how to present itself. It was Grindr’s decision to host the party in this mansion, to opt for burgers and oyster shuckers over passed canapes, to curate the guest list and select their invitees and set the tone of the evening: somewhere between networking event and tie-loosening “having a good time,” as one Republican told me, but well short of anything that could give conservatives ammo in the culture wars.

In short: Grindr was a good political partner for Democrats and Republicans, even in Donald Trump’s administration. And while several big names did show up to the party — Don Lemon, Ken Martin, David Urban, Keith Edwards, Jon Lovett (who ribbed the alcohol situation on Jimmy Kimmel Live the next day) — the vast majority of people at the party were arguably more important to win over. It was senior political staffers, journalists, lobbyists, advisers at interest groups, pollsters, and everyone with some hand in drafting the laws before the electeds vote on them.

Was it typical quote-unquote allyship? Not in the public sense, and don’t expect Trump officials marching hand in hand with the progressive caucus during Pride. But Hack emphasized that while Grindr was “in many ways, just another midsize tech company that happens to be gay,” company leadership felt an urgent responsibility to protect their user base. The upfront way to do that was through policy wins and shaping laws, but he also felt like Grindr had to go one step further than other dating apps: “It’s also a moment where you see a lot of corporations stepping back from their commitments to our community.”

Implicit in his statement was a painful reality: After a decade of advances, LGBTQ rights are slowly being eroded across the country. Several Republican states are petitioning the US Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Funding has been stripped from health services for LGBTQ Americans. The federal government is quietly eliminating benefits for same-sex couples. And if certain online safety laws pass and the anonymity of the internet disappears, the possibility of a Grindr user being outed and punished for expressing their sexuality is all but a given.

And that is what the politicking is for. “We feel, I think, even more of an urgent need to have a seat at the table,” said Hack. “There’s an old saying in Washington: that if you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu.”

The boys were also there:

Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
#Grindr #Grindr #won #WHCD #party #circuitColumn,Policy,Politics,Regulator

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