A woman jogs past Yahoo's logo at its headquarters in Sunnyvale, California. (Photo : Reuters)
Verizon's $4.8 billion offer to buy Yahoo has been reportedly accepted by the latter's board members, finalizing a deal that has been a long time coming since the dot com-crash.
Yahoo was one of the world's largest Internet companies before Google. It was the main search engine for everyone and was also one of the leading email providers several decades ago.
Before, Yahoo was valued at around $125 billion but that value declined sharply over the years as more companies started to appear and take over the Internet business. Google has long beaten Yahoo with its superior search engine and even with their advertising business.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer will reportedly have a severance package worth around $57 million for the time she spent trying to rebuild the company into the Internet behemoth it once was, TechCrunch has learned. Everyone knows that the efforts, which include large deals with Tumblr, have failed to even put a dent on Yahoo's competitors.
With the advent of social media and the reign of Google, it was only a matter of time before Yahoo finally fell down. However, the deal with Verizon could still save the company but won't restore its former glory.
Verizon was always the leading contender for the bids for Yahoo several months back. The wireless company will add Yahoo to their disposal for the advertising and digital media business they are trying to grow.
The final deal details between Verizon and Yahoo are expected to be announced on July 25, Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported. One person familiar with the deal said that Verizon will still keep the Yahoo brand but will probably repurpose the company for their own needs.
Verizon's exact plans for Yahoo are still unknown at the moment. There are still no details regarding what the company will do with Yahoo's real estate properties once they have fully acquired the Internet company.
What is clear is Verizon's goal for long term. The company is expected to have more viewers thanks to the Yahoo deal through the latter's many media outlets online.
Yahoo and Verizon are expected to make statements regarding the deal once it has been finalized. Yahoo's shares in Alibaba will still remain in the shareholders hands.
