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End of an era: Verizon’s acquisition of Yahoo finally closes
Verizon Communication Inc.’s long-running and occasionally drama-filled takeover of Yahoo Inc. is finally over.
The company announced Tuesday that the deal has now officially closed. Yahoo properties, including news, sports and other sites, will join properties from the Verizon-owned AOL in a new property bizarrely called Oath under the management of former AOL Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong.
“The close of this transaction represents a critical step in growing the global scale needed for our digital media company,” Marni Walden, Verizon’s president of media and telematics, said in a statement. “The combined set of assets across Verizon and Oath, from VR [virtual reality] to AI [artificial intelligence], 5G to IoT [Internet of Things], from content partnerships to originals, will create exciting new ways to captivate audiences across the globe.”
Closure of the deal also sees the departure of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer (pictured), who departs the company with a $186 million exit package. She’s widely regarded as having failed in her job of turning the company around despite high hopes when she first came on board — though her tenure did see Yahoo’s shares rise sharply. “While reaching this moment has certainly been a long road traveled, it marks the end of an era for Yahoo, as well as the beginning of a new chapter – it’s an emotional time for all of us,” Mayer wrote in an email to Yahoo employees. “Given the inherent changes to my role, I’ll be leaving the company.”
Highlights of the “long road traveled” included Verizon balking at buying Yahoo at all following the revelation that Yahoo had suffered two major hacks that affected as many as 3 billion users. After initially asking for a $1 billion discount on its $4.8 billion acquisition price, Verizon compromised with a $250 million discount instead.
It’s certainly the end of an era, given that Yahoo’s founding dates back to the earliest days of the commercial Internet. But for many working for the company, it will be the end of their employment as well. Reports indicate that Verizon is expected to fire at least 1,000 employees from both the former AOL and Yahoo now that the acquisition has closed.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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