In a new interview with;Tech Brew, former Yahoo CEO;Marissa Mayer;expresses regret about purchasing Tumblr in 2013 rather than a nascent streaming service.
;Mayer says that, with the benefit of hindsight, she now believes Netflix or Hulu "would have been a better acquisition" at the time.
Yahoo grabbed "microblogging platform" Tumblr for $1.1 billion in 2013, seeking a "transformative acquisition."
- According to Mayer, Yahoo executives also considered acquiring a streaming platform at that time.
- By Mayer's estimates, Netflix would've cost the company $4 billion to acquire, while Hulu would have been comparable to Tumblr, at a cost of around $1.3 billion.
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In 2016, Yahoo wrote down the value of Tumblr by;$230 million; after Verizon acquired Yahoo in 2019,;they sold Tumblr;to WordPress owner Automattic Inc. for an undisclosed
sum, reportedly under $3 million.
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Yahoo ultimately did create its own in-house streaming service,;Yahoo Screen, which produced some original shows, including a sixth season of the network sitcom "Community"; it folded
in 2016.
