Tumblr founder David Karp announced in a memo to staff members today that he has resigned from his post at the company. The move comes after Verizon’s acquisition of Yahoo, which carried Tumblr over to the mobile carrier and Internet service provider as part of the Oath subsidiary.
Tumblr founder David Karp steps down
Karp has been with the company for 11 years, and he’s largely been its public face the entire time. He said in his memo that he designed to resign “after months of reflection on my personal ambitions.” He posted the memo on his blog on the platform. Given that Verizon closed its acquisition of many of Yahoo’s properties, including Tumblr, closed in June, it seems plausible that the Tumblr founder really began to ponder his future in connection with the acquisition.
In Karp’s memo to employees, he said that he still has high hopes for the future of the platform he founded and for the impact he still believes it could have. He also noted that he will leave Tumblr in the hands of the platform’s president and COO Jeff D’Onofrio and media head Simon Khalaf. D’Onofrio will handle his responsibilities, a spokesperson for Oath is telling media outlets.
Karp’s resignation will be effective by the end of the year. It’s not clear whether Verizon will find a new CEO for the platform, given its status as a small part of Oath within Verizon.
What’s next for the Tumblr founder?
The Tumblr founder did not say what he plans to do next, but he will be sitting on a huge stack of cash when he finishes up, according to Business Insider. He’ll be receiving the last of the compensation from the Yahoo sale this year. In 2013, he was paid about $81 million in cash and stock to remain at the company for four years or more. He was also paid about $250 million in cash when the platform was sold to Yahoo.
Yahoo purchased the platform for $1 billion in 2013, but since then, profitability has remained elusive for it. Verizon paid $4.5 billion to acquire Tumblr and other Yahoo properties under the Oath subsidiary, including AOL.
