After much rumours, finally it is official that Yahoo has acquired Tumblr. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Tumblr CEO David Karp have announced this deal in official statements. Yahoo paid $1.1 billion in cash and promises not to screw up Tumblr, popular blogging platform.
“Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business. David Karp will remain CEO. The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators,” says Yahoo in the release.
Marissa mayer also tweeted about this.
900 posts a second on @tumblr means 2.3 Million new posts during our 42-minute investor call this morning 🙂
— marissamayer (@marissamayer) May 20, 2013
First ever acquisition announced by animated gif 🙂 @yahoo is acquiring @tumblr. finance.yahoo.com/news/yahoo-acq…#keepcalmandcarryon
— marissamayer (@marissamayer) May 20, 2013
Tumblr is one of the fastest growing website in the world with more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and 1,20,000 signups per day. It sees more than 900 posts per second. This deal expected to increase Yahoo traffic by 20 percent.
“Tumblr is redefining creative expression online,” said Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer. “On many levels, Tumblr and Yahoo! couldn’t be more different, but, at the same time, they couldn’t be more complementary. Yahoo is the Internet’s original media network. Tumblr is the Internet’s fastest-growing media frenzy. Both companies are homes for brands – established and emerging. And, fundamentally, Tumblr and Yahoo! are both all about users, design, and finding surprise and inspiration amidst the everyday.”
David Karp, CEO of Tumblr, addressed the Tumblr community, “Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve – certainly isn’t changing. But we’re elated to have the support of Yahoo! and their team who share our dream to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas. Tumblr gets better faster with more resources to draw from.”
Most of the Tumblr users are not happy and they are expressing their disappointment on their blogs.
What do you think about this acquisition? Do you think Yahoo will benefit more from this deal.
