Find out what’s really going on after Verizon’s acquisition of Yahoo
You may have heard that Yahoo is gone for good after being renamed Altaba. After being acquired by Verizon in a $4.8 billion deal, Yahoo’s core internet business is now in the hands of AOL (subsidiary of Verizon). True, but Yahoo is not changing their name to Altaba. So yes, you’ll get to keep your Yahoo email address.
The remnants of Yahoo is called Altaba
Firstly, what’s the name about? Well, Altaba is a combination of the word “alternate” and “Alibaba”.
After Verizon acquired the Yahoo’s core business, what remained of the once-giant tech business, namely its 15% stake in Alibaba and 35.5% stake in Yahoo! Japan (Joint venture with Softbank), has now been spun off as Altaba.
Altaba will become a publicly traded investment holding company with the 5 remaining board members, Tor Braham, Eric Brandt, Catherine Friedman, Thomas McInerney and Jeffrey Smith after its closure with Brandt as the head.
Verizon’s Yahoo
Verizon bought over Yahoo’s web properties including Yahoo Search engine and their electronic-mail systems, merging them with other AOL properties. Other Yahoo sites like Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Sports will remain and exist alongside.
Verizon Inc. aims to create a viable third option for digital advertisers in addition to their current media assets like Huffington Post, TechCrunch and Engadget behind Google and Facebook, with the acquisition of Yahoo’s web business.
Previously, queries were raised about Yahoos’s decision to not “split off” from Alibaba. Yahoo’s reason for its spin-off to Altaba was to avoid capital gains tax during a divestiture, which is extremely high for companies like Yahoo (corporate rate of 35%). According to CNBC, that would amount to $10 billion.
What about Mayer?
Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer will leave Altaba (or old Yahoo) and follow-up with Yahoo’s branding in Verizon. Mayer has reflected that she is “good friends” with Verizon’s boss, and will continue to invest in Yahoo’s future endeavours.
Together with cofounder David Filo, four other Yahoo executives will resign but facilitate the transformation of Yahoo to an investment business under Altaba.
Don’t be confused
If you’re still confused why is there Altaba and why Mayer’s joining Verizon to “follow up with Yahoo’s development”, here the summary:
Yahoo’s main web business (including your email) will still have the purple smiley face logo. All that’s changed is that it’s now part of Verizon.
However, the investment side of Yahoo, including Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, will form Altaba.
