{"id":116707,"date":"2021-05-04T21:19:28","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T01:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/?p=116707"},"modified":"2022-07-09T17:19:58","modified_gmt":"2022-07-09T21:19:58","slug":"web-pioneers-aol-and-yahoo-liquidated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/web-pioneers-aol-and-yahoo-liquidated\/","title":{"rendered":"Web Pioneers AOL and Yahoo Liquidated by Verizon"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

\"Web<\/a>Web pioneers AOL<\/strong> and Yahoo<\/strong>\u00a0have been sold<\/strong>. Verizon sold the two early Internet powerhouses to the private equity firm<\/strong> Apollo Global Management<\/a>. For these once tech titans, the deal represents a failure to adapt and thrive as the internet evolved. A history of missteps and bad timing leads both AOL and Yahoo to be sold for 10% of their peak values<\/p>\r\n

America Online<\/h3>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>AOL<\/a>,<\/strong> founded in 1991 as a BBS<\/a> for Commodore 64 computers<\/a>, went public in 1992. Estimates<\/a> put AOL’s value at $226 billion<\/strong> by 2001. Over 35 million users<\/a><\/strong> accessed the Internet via AOL. The firm had a history of preventing users from canceling<\/a><\/strong> their subscriptions. In 2001 America Online bought Time Warner<\/strong><\/a> for $182 billion in cash and stock. The move buried the company in debt just before the dotcom bubble<\/strong> burst<\/a> and the rise of broadband made AOL’s dial-up services virtually obsolete. AOL languished until Verizon bought <\/b>the property in\u00a02015\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Yahoo<\/h3>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>Yahoo<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(YHOO<\/a>), founded in 1994 had 3 billion users<\/strong> at its peak. It had total revenue of over $1.8 billion<\/a> at its peak in 2008. Yahoo has a history of misses as well. In 1999 it spent nearly $10 billion<\/strong> to buy GeoCities<\/a> <\/strong>and Broadcast.com<\/a>, both of which the company eventually shut down. It spent $1.1 billion on Tumblr<\/a><\/strong> in 2013 and sold it for less than $3 million<\/a> in 2019. The Internet pioneer rejected a $44.6 billion takeover<\/a> offer<\/strong> from Microsoft in 2008, only to sell to Verizon for 10% of that value less than ten years later. Yahoo has the dubious honor of enabling the largest know data breach<\/a><\/strong> – leaking all 3 billion accounts<\/a>. Verizon bought Yahoo in 2017 for $4.5 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n

Verizon<\/a>\u00a0(VZ<\/a>) sold the Verizon Media<\/a> group for $4.25 billion<\/strong> in cash and a 10% stake in the new company. The former internet empires will be rebranded \u201cYahoo,\u201d according to the announcement<\/a>. Verizon said they expect the sale to close in the second half of 2021. The sale includes online news outlets TechCrunch, Yahoo Finance, and Engadget.<\/p>\r\n

Verizon is cutting its losses<\/h3>\r\n

The deal values the former powerhouse businesses at significantly lower prices than Verizon paid just a few years ago.<\/p>\r\n