Tumblr is to be acquired by WordPress’ parent company Automattic.
Yahoo! bought Tumblr in 2013 for $1 billion dollars, whereas reports are citing numbers below $3 million for the latest sale! Yes, that’s “million”.
The blogging service makes a logical choice for Automattic who already own a growing number of companies serving the blogging space, as well as the .blog TLD.
Mr. Mullenweg said his company intends to maintain the existing policy that bans adult content. He said he has long been a Tumblr user and sees the site as complementary to WordPress.com. “It’s just fun,” he said of Tumblr. “We’re not going to change any of that.”
WSJ
Tumblr has a strong mobile interface and dashboard where users follow other blogs, he said. Executives will look for ways WordPress.com and Tumblr can share services and functionality.
Verizon had bought Tumblr as part of its acquisition of Yahoo! back in 2017. The company decided last year to impose a ban on adult content on Tumblr, which was met with criticism from the blogging community, as the term “adult” is very subjective.
Amusingly Mullenweg announced the acquisition on his personal Tumblr blog.
