B2C. US-based Automattic Inc (owner of WordPress) is buying Tumblr from Verizon for a nominal price. The blogging and social networking site was established in 2007 by David Karp who sold it to Yahoo for $1.1bn in 2013. Terms of this latest deal were not disclosed but the price is reportedly less than $3m, a stunning fraction of the company’s former value. Verizon acquired Tumblr in 2017 as part of Yahoo and started to look for a buyer early in 2019.
The previously high-rated company has been marginalised by competition from Facebook and other social media and sharing services. Automattic will take on the 200 staff of Tumblr which allows users to upload blogs, photos and music. It’s a major acquisition for the San Francisco-based Automattic whose online brands include Longreads, Akismet and Gravatar.
Verizon is revamping its media operations after struggling to meet revenue targets. It currently owns Yahoo and AOL web properties such as HuffPost, TechCrunch, feminist media brand Makers and celebrity-interview site Build. It says it wants to focus on subscription services and original content. There remains persistent speculation about whether the prominent but perennially unprofitable Huffington Post will also be sold. Presumably some traditional news brands would be interested…and, of course, Bustle.
