Yahoo Acquires Tumblr For $1.1 Billion

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has announced that Yahoo has officially acquired blogging platform Tumblr in a $1.1 billion deal, and has promised “not to screw it up.” Tumblr will remain an independent platform, and founder David Karp will remain on as CEO. In a Tumblr Staff blog post, Karp promised the following to the Tumblr community:

We’re not turning purple. Our headquarters isn’t moving. Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve – certainly isn’t changing.

Yahoo estimates that the acquisition will grow its audience by about 50 percent and its traffic by approximately 20 percent, and says that both Yahoo and Tumblr “will work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance user experience.”

image via Yahoo, based on artwork by Olly Moss