Verizon has reportedly been exploring deals to sell Tumblr, the blogging platform it took over as part of its $4.83 billion Yahoo acquisition. Yahoo bought Tumblr in early 2013 for $1.1 billion, but it remains unclear what price the wireless carrier is selling the micro-blogging site for.
According to a new report by The Wall Street Journal, which cites sources privy to Verizon"s plan, the sale is part of its efforts to turn around the struggling revenues from its media properties under the Oath umbrella. Verizon formed Oath in 2017 and merged Yahoo into the group along with its other media property, AOL. However, the merger did not result in any major benefit for Verizon, and it wrote down Oath"s value by $4.6 billion late last year, according to Business Insider.
The search for buyers is still ongoing per the report, but no definitive deal is expected anytime soon. Tumblr"s visitors took a nosedive since late last year after it banned adult content from the platform. According to figures from database company Statista, Tumblr"s combined desktop and mobile visits fell from 521 million in December 2018 to 437 million in January of this year.
Update: In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Pornhub Vice President Corey Price said the porn-streaming site is interested in buying Tumblr and wants to restore its NSFW content if it strikes a deal with Verizon.
Source: The Wall Street Journal via Business Insider