Not being a user of Tumblr, I'm clueless about whether its $1.1B acquisition is going to work out for Yahoo! [Disclosure: My savvy social media daughters -- 21 and 18 -- are/were fans of Tumblr for quite some time].
The history of the Internet pioneer has been one of ups and mainly downs. One thing is for certain: Yahoo's press release to announce the acquisition of the fast-growing social media site is a thing of beauty.
The headline’s four-word subhead perfectly describes the challenge faced by Yahoo.
The headline reads: "Yahoo! To Acquire Tumblr" followed by: "Promises not to screw it up."
Touche!
The second paragraph reinforces Yahoo’s hands-off promise. "Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business. David Karp will remain CEO. The product, services and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit and commitment to empower creators."
Death to corporate-speak!
Many acquisitions, of course, begin with the promise of independence and then the target company is royally screwed up. It’s up to Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer to made good on her promise made in her first big deal.
In the press release, she added a nice touch. She credited Tumblr's spirit to the demeanor to its founder Dave Karp. She praised Karp as "one of the nicest, most empathetic people I've ever met."
When was the last time a press release hailed the chief of an acquired company a nice guy? Leo Durocher used to say "nice guys finish last." I hope Karp debunks The Lip's cynicism.
If Melissa keeps her word, he has a shot.
Trump Media & Technology Group today reported a $58.2M net loss on $4.1M in 2023 revenues, a disclosure that drove its stock price down 22.6 percent to $47.96.
Barry Pollack, an attorney at Wall Street’s Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler, has registered Julian Assange as a client with the Justice Dept. “out of an abundance of caution.”
Paramount Global to slash 800 jobs in what chief executive Bob Bakish calls part of an effort to “return the company to earnings growth"... Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman is exiting at the end of the month due to disagreements with chief executive Gus Wenner over the direction the magazine is taking... The New York Times broke the $1 billion barrier in annual revenue from digital subscriptions in 2023... Press Forward is investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms.
The majority of news articles are read within the first three days of publication, according to a recent report.
The Los Angeles Times gives pink slips to 115 people or 20 percent of its newsroom staff... TIME is also laying off about 30 employees, which is approximately 15 percent of its editorial staff... The Baltimore Banner, which was launched by Stewart Bainum in 2022 after he failed to buy the Baltimore Sun, added 500 subscribers per day in the three days following Sinclair Broadcast Group's deal to purchase the Sun.
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