It’s official. After rumors swirled last week, Yahoo and Tumblr have announced an agreement that will see Yahoo acquire the popular blogging platform for approximately $1.1 billion (all cash). For comparison, that’s just a little more than Facebook wound up paying for Instagram last summer.
In a blog post, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer promises that Yahoo “won’t screw it up.” Yahoo plans to run Tumblr independently, and Tumblr founder David Karp will reamin in his role as CEO. Mayer says that Yahoo will be helping Tumblr to “get even better, faster.”
Karp is even more adamant that Tumblr will stay the same:
“Before touching on how awesome this is, let me try to allay any concerns: We’re not turning purple. Our headquarters isn’t moving. 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.” he says.
As for why? Here’s what Mayer had to say about how the two companies will work together:
“In terms of working together, Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love. In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences. The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance user experience.”
She goes on:
“Both Tumblr and Yahoo! share a vision to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas by focusing on users, design – and building experiences that delight and inspire the world every day.”
Here’s how Mayer made the announcement (with a gif!):
“As always, everything that Tumblr is, we owe to this unbelievable community. We won’t let you down. F*ck yeah,” says Karp.