Verizon Media and Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, on Monday announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Automattic plans to acquire the blogging site Tumblr.
Verizon inherited Tumblr as part of its 2017 acquisition of Yahoo, which it acquired in a $1.1 billion deal in 2013.
Tumblr is a media network powered by a massive community of independent creators and home to 475 million blogs. Verizon Media houses a trusted media ecosystem reaching nearly one billion consumers through its premium brands - including Yahoo, HuffPost, TechCrunch and AOL - and best-in-class ad and media streaming platforms. The company’s state of the art technology and innovation is uniquely positioned to create live and video on demand digital, audio and mobile experiences that are both market tailored and globally distributed.
Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic
We are excited to add it to our lineup, which already includes WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, Simplenote, Longreads, and more.
Guru Gowrappan, CEO, Verizon Media
Tumblr is a marquee brand that has started movements, allowed for true identities to blossom and become home to many creative communities and fandoms.