Yahoo and AOL, previously known as Verizon Media, were officially acquired by their new owners. The deal is estimated to be worth $5 Billion, roughly half the $9 billion Verizon originally paid and just a fraction the hundreds of billions they were worth when they were at their peak.
AOL was originally acquired by Verizon in 2015 for $4.4billion. Yahoo was purchased in 2017 for $4.5billion. Verizon placed both brands under its woefully bland Oath brand after it completed the Yahoo acquisition. Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL, declared #TakeTheOath. In 2019, Verizon Media was officially renamed the media divisions which includes properties such as Yahoo Sports, TechCrunch and Engadget.
#TakeTheOath
Guru Gowrappan will be the CEO of Yahoo and Yahoo will continue to operate independently under Apollo Funds. Apollo Funds is a private equity company that owns assets such as the Venetian resort and Las Vegas' craft retailer Michaels. Gowrappan stated that the closing of the deal marks an exciting time for us as a separate entity. We expect that the next months and years will bring new growth and innovation to Yahoo as a company and brand. We look forward to working with our new partners.
This acquisition ends Verizon's brief-lived involvement in media production and advertising. Tumblr, which was previously owned by Yahoo, was sold to the company in 2019. The Huffington Post, which was previously part of AOL, was also sold to Verizon last year. Apollo claims that Yahoo still has nearly 900 million active users monthly, despite the sale.
