Apollo Global Management buys Verizon Media and renames it Yahoo

Yahoo has flitted between multiple owners since falling from grace as a darling of the early internet era. Its core internet business was snapped up by Verizon Communications for $4.5bn in 2017, precipitating the departure of then chief executive officer Marissa Meyer.

Yahoo, AOL and HuffPost were subsequently folded within a new company Oath, which was later rebranded as Verizon Media – the subject of today’s Apollo takeover.

Yahoo chief executive (and formerly Verizon Media chief exec) Guru Gowrappan said: “This is a new era for Yahoo. The close of the deal heralds an exciting time of renewed opportunity for us as a standalone entity. We anticipate that the coming months and years will bring fresh growth and innovation for Yahoo as a business and a brand, and we look forward to creating that future with our new partners.”

Apollo partner Reed Rayman added: “We look forward to partnering with Yahoo’s talented employee base to build on the company’s strong momentum and position the new Yahoo for long-term success as a standalone consumer internet and digital media leader.”

Despite losing its luster, Yahoo retains a formidable online presence – counting brands such as TechCrunch, AOL and Engadget among its properties – and a monthly active user tally of around 900 million.

The deal caps a sad end to Verizon’s once-grand vision to establish itself as an online media player, which will now fall back on its core telecommunications offering.