Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg stated that the site will operate as a complementary service to, and that there were no plans to reverse the content policy decisions made during Verizon ownership. Axios reported that the sale price was less than $3 million, a significant decrease over Yahoo's original purchase price.
On August 12, 2019, Verizon Media announced that it would sell Tumblr to Automattic-operator of blog service and corporate backer of the open source blog software of the same name-for an undisclosed amount. Following this news, Pornhub's vice president publicly expressed interest in purchasing Tumblr, with a promise to reinstate the previous adult content policies. In May 2019, it was reported that Verizon was considering selling the site due to its continued struggles since the purchase (as it had done with another Yahoo property, Flickr, via its sale to SmugMug). In March 2019, SimilarWeb estimated Tumblr had lost 30% of its user traffic since December 2018, when the site had introduced a stricter content policy with heavier restrictions on adult content (which had been a notable draw to the service). The site, along with the rest of the Oath division (renamed Verizon Media Group in 2019), continued to struggle under Verizon. Jeff D'Onofrio, Tumblr's president and COO, took over leading the company.
Karp announced in November 2017 that he would be leaving Tumblr by the end of the year. Verizon Communications acquired Yahoo in June 2017, and placed Yahoo and Tumblr under its Oath subsidiary. Advertising sales goals were not met and in 2016 Yahoo wrote down $712 million of Tumblr's value. David Karp remained CEO and the deal was finalized on June 20, 2013. Many of Tumblr's users were unhappy with the news, causing some to start a petition, achieving nearly 170,000 signatures. to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash. That inquest led to White’s arrest three years later.īut in her sentencing announcement, the judge said there was no evidence that Johnson’s death was the result of an anti-gay hate crime.On May 20, 2013, it was announced that Yahoo and Tumblr had reached an agreement for Yahoo! Inc. A third inquest in 2017 ruled that he fell from the clifftop “as a result of actual or threatened violence” because he was perceived to be gay. The family petitioned for a second inquest in 2012, which ruled Scott Johnson’s death as inconclusive. The case took a turn after it was revealed that several gay men were specifically targeted by roaming gangs because of their sexuality during that time period, including a few who were killed. He met White at a bar and went with him to the cliff top, which was a frequent meeting place for gay men.Īn initial coroner’s inquest ruled that Johnson’s death was a suicide, but his family urged authorities to continue investigating. Johnson, who was seeking his doctoral degree in mathematics, had moved to Australia in 1986 to live with his partner.
The judge ordered the 51-year-old White to serve at least eight years and three months in prison before he can be eligible for parole. Scott White pleaded guilty in January to the murder of 27-year-old Scott Johnson, whose body was discovered in December 1988 at the bottom of a cliff in Sydney’s North Head Beach district. An Australian man who admitted to killing a gay American student in 1988 has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.