Verizon says it will sell Yahoo and AOL to PE firm Apollo Global Management for $5B, keeping a 10% stake in the company, which will be rebranded as just “Yahoo”

- Verizon will sell its media group, which includes brands from AOL and Yahoo, to private equity firm Apollo Global Management.

CNBC 2021-05-04 Steve Kovach

Context & Ripple Effects

Verizon assembled the media group through its $4.4B AOL acquisition and its later $4.83B purchase of Yahoo's internet business. The sale transfers that combined operation to Apollo while preserving a minority Verizon stake.

Rebranding the acquired business as Yahoo makes the unit's identity less tied to Verizon's media-group structure and more centered on its best-known consumer brand.

First-order effects

Apollo Global Management becomes the controlling owner of Yahoo and AOL, while Verizon receives $5B and retains a 10% stake in the rebranded Yahoo company.
Yahoo becomes the operating name for the combined business, ending Verizon's direct ownership of the media group it built through the AOL and Yahoo acquisitions.

Second-order effects

Verizon's remaining 10% stake keeps it financially exposed to the business without requiring it to run the media operation, while Apollo takes responsibility for its direction.
AOL is folded further into a Yahoo-led identity, concentrating the acquired portfolio's external brand around Yahoo rather than Verizon or AOL.

Third-order effects

The transaction points to legacy internet-media portfolios being separated from telecom owners and managed as standalone assets by financial sponsors, with minority stakes preserving limited strategic or financial ties.
If this ownership pattern persists, brand consolidation may become a common mechanism for private-equity owners to simplify multi-asset internet businesses after acquisition.

The trend: Telecom-built digital-media portfolios are moving toward standalone, sponsor-owned structures with former corporate parents retaining selective minority exposure.

Discussion

@jshieber Jon Scriber on x
No matter the owner ⁦@TechCrunch⁩ will be the go-to destination for reporting on the business and culture of entrepreneurship and the first look most people get at the tech that will make the future. ⁦@apolloglobal⁩ bought the best in the biz. https://www.verizon.com/...
@dailydirtnap Jared Dillian on x
The real news here is that somebody paid $5 billion for Yahoo and AOL https://twitter.com/...
@smashdawg Jeremy Kaplan on x
I guess they're breaking their Oath https://twitter.com/...
@profcarroll David Carroll on x
Verizon: We are not a dumb pipe. We will buy data and profit gloriously from adtech. Verizon: Or not. Ok we'll be a dumb pipe if you insist. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@evleaks Evan Blass on x
As the Times article notes, Verizon's content play was an ill-conceived bet that media would drive wireless data usage. What's ironic is that, had VZ bothered to study AOL's disastrous TW merger, it would have learned that these anticipated synergies often fail to materialize. ht…
@jamesrbuk James Ball on x
I'd love to be pleasantly surprised but this feels like it would be a “take the cash flow as you sell it for parts” kind of acquisition... https://twitter.com/...
@evleaks Evan Blass on x
When I started at Engadget, it was part of the Weblogs, Inc blog network. WIN got bought by AOL, then AOL got bought by Verizon (followed by Yahoo), and now both (plus Engadget?) may be on the block yet again. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@megancgraham Meg Graham on x
Verizon selling Yahoo and AOL for $5B. Verizon bought AOL in 2015 for $4.4 billion, and Yahoo for $4.5 billion in 2017. More via @stevekovach https://www.cnbc.com/...
@rustybrick Barry Schwartz on x
So now Yahoo to be renamed to Yahoo and Verizon will keep 10% share - but sold both Yahoo and AOL for only $5 billion https://twitter.com/...
@sherman4949 Alex Sherman on x
My biggest hope in the filings of the Verizon Media sale to Apollo is we get an updated number of how many people still pay for dialup AOL internet. It was still 2.1 million(!) in 2015. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Oath to Apollo https://www.cnbc.com/...
@alex @alex on x
ok so apparently I work for Yahoo now
@davidclinchnews @davidclinchnews on x
“...user-generated content, whether in the form of Facebook posts or YouTube videos, drove much of online activity. AOL and Yahoo, despite their big audiences, had become distant also-rans” Verizon Near Deal to Sell Yahoo and AOL https://www.nytimes.com/...
@gregpinelo Greg Pinelo on x
AOL is the Sears of internet companies. https://twitter.com/...
@amykremer Amy Kremer on x
“With the sale of Yahoo and AOL, Verizon signaled it is no longer interested in media, unlike its rivals.” https://www.cnbc.com/... via @nbcnews
@samstein Sam Stein on x
It was pretty obvious that Verizon had little clue what it was doing as it tried to run an digital media operation. And now, it concedes it didn't and opts out of the game. https://techcrunch.com/...
@zackwhittaker Zack Whittaker on x
As you've seen, private equity firm Apollo has agreed to buy Yahoo & AOL from Verizon — and that also includes TechCrunch. I have no idea what it means for the future. But until then, I've still got stories to write and I can't wait to share them with you. https://techcrunch.com/…
@lexnfx Alexei Oreskovic on x
AOL is the internet's never-ending story, now going on 4 decades, spanning 7 US presidents, outlasting empires, and progressing along incredible changes in society.
@lanceulanoff Lance Ulanoff on x
A sale to private equity doesn't bode well for the employees of any of the remaining properties. Investors are all about returns and will look for “efficiencies” to achieve them. https://twitter.com/...
@daltonc Dalton Caldwell on x
As foretold in “Demolition Man”, in the future every restaurant will be Taco Bell and the single surviving media company will be known as just “Yahoo” https://twitter.com/...
@hblodget Henry Blodget on x
Everyone talking like this is some terrible disaster. At least they got $5 billion. Could have been a lot worse (and has been!) https://twitter.com/...
@charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x
Adieu AOL? https://twitter.com/...
@gurugk Guru Gowrappan on x
.@Verizon entered into an agreement with Apollo to acquire its media business, which will further accelerate @verizonmedia's growth and scale. I am incredibly excited for this evolution of @Yahoo; the next chapter will be the most exciting yet. https://www.verizon.com/... https:/…
@backlon Dieter Bohn on x
I'm late but here's a take: Verizon Supercookies have a new recipe, hopefully. Though I wonder if that 10% investment involves any data sharing. Would be nice if the FTC would think of the Supercookies. https://www.theverge.com/...
@jackiereses Jackie Reses on x
I would bet on Apollo! @Yahoo @apolloglobal https://twitter.com/...
@megreenwald Morgan Greenwald on x
Yahoo and AOL are not dying brands. VZM generated $1.9 billion in sales in Q1. Thousands of people are worried about their job security and your ignorant tweets about the digital brands they work for aren't helpful! https://www.nytimes.com/...
@zjemptv Pfizinnia Jones on x
Cool when do we get porn back on tumblr https://twitter.com/...
@craigcalcaterra Craig Calcaterra on x
Nothing could possibly go wrong when your company is purchased by a private equity firm with a name inspired by Greek mythology or whatever. That's always a good sign for the future. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@counternotions Kontra on x
“Verizon will keep a 10% stake in the company and it will be rebranded to just Yahoo.” ( ...and that, friends, would be the most significant outcome of this acquisition: Yahoo! → Yahoo )
@mims Christopher Mims on x
Everybody who's like “yahoo what's that durrr” knows that 1 in 4 Americans still uses a Yahoo email address and that the entire AOL + Yahoo group generated $7 billion in 2020, up 10% since 2019 right https://www.cnbc.com/...
@sherman4949 Alex Sherman on x
Scoop: The number of people who still pay for AOl dialup is in the “low thousands,” but 1.5 million people still pay monthly subscription fees to AOL — for identity theft and tech support services. https://www.cnbc.com/...

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