Yahoo Finalizes Tumblr Acquisition For Staggering $1.1 Billion

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It was one month ago today that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) announced that it would acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion. It was also a year to the day that nearly every technology/finance writer and blogger collectively said, “How Much?!?” before sitting down to their computers and criticizing Yahoo for an unwise acquisition or praising Tumblr’s CEO for becoming filthy rich in a very short period of time. I chose to go with both. While I still believe both to be the case, I can no longer speculate on whether the deal would be finalized. It has been.

Yahoo Finalizes Tumblr Acquisition For Staggering $1.1 Billion

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) made the announcement today that they have finalized the deal. Ending the official announcement out of Sunnyvale, CA with something of a love fest that nearly transported me back to the summer of 67′ that I never saw.

Yahoo (YHOO)’s Marissa Mayers Talks About Tumblr

“Tumblr is an incredible company. I’m thrilled to officially welcome David and his team to Yahoo!,” said Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer.

On the deal completion, Tumblr CEO David Karp said, “We are beyond excited to partner with Marissa and the wonderful team at Yahoo! that we’ve already come to know well. Their support and belief in our vision gives us an opportunity now to be the most ambitious we’ve ever been.”

When the announcement was made last month, Marissa Mayer promised to “not to screw [Tumblr] up.” While I can’t speak for someone who just pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tumblr CEO David Karp hasn’t at some point responded to this while rolling around naked on a bed of Krugerrand with, “I don’t care.” Few people will ever criticize Karp for selling out to Yahoo—that will fall strictly on the shoulders of Mayer, and more so by people she has denied the ability to telecommute during her short tenure.

David Karp Publicly Committed to Tumblr

But publicly, David Karp remains committed to Tumblr, if not Yahoo, and will remain at the helm of the micro-blogging site that enjoys 300 million monthly unique visitors. Tumblr, for now, will remain “independent” of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO).

With this huge gamble, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is hoping that its acquisition will now bring in over one billion viewers to its site with the hopes of integrating all they purchased into the Yahoo zeitgeist, as their statement suggests.

“The deal offers unique opportunities for both companies. Tumblr can deploy Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love. With more than 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day), Tumblr can bring complementary content to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences. Yahoo! will support Tumblr’s efforts to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance the user experience.”

I can’t be the only person saying, only time will tell.

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