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Yahoo, an iconic and long-standing brand in the internet industry, is making plans to return to the public markets. The company’s CEO, Jim Lanzone, expressed his goal to take Yahoo back to an initial public offering (IPO) and restore its prominence within the Silicon Valley community. According to Lanzone, Yahoo is in a strong financial position with a solid balance sheet and profitability. However, Lanzone believes that the period of being a private company allowed for necessary structural changes, drawing inspiration from the successful business unit model employed during his time as the head of CBS Interactive.
Lanzone, previously the CEO of Tinder, was appointed after Verizon spun off Yahoo as an independent company in September 2021. Prior to that, Verizon had acquired Yahoo and AOL in separate transactions in 2015 and 2017, but ultimately sold both to private equity firm Apollo for $5 billion due to significant losses. Verizon had initially grouped Yahoo and AOL under the “Oath” brand to diversify its business into media, but ended up selling them at a much lower price than what was originally paid.
This sale marked a decline for Yahoo, as it lost popularity and internet market share to competitors like Google and Facebook in the 2000s. Despite this, Lanzone claims that Yahoo still maintains a strong global presence in terms of total traffic, even after being owned by a telecoms company for six years.
With over 30 titles or business units, Yahoo continues to offer a wide range of services, including finance, sports, news, mail, and startup news site TechCrunch.
Lanzone emphasizes that Yahoo has always been a trusted guide for users in various digital domains such as finance, sports, and news. Despite its challenges over the years, Yahoo remains a leading figure in these important categories globally.
Lanzone acknowledges that Verizon utilized the Yahoo brand to support its telecoms business objectives, which differed from Yahoo’s standalone goals. He envisions a long-term future for Yahoo, with opportunities for mergers and acquisitions in related sectors to expand its business portfolio.
Yahoo recently acquired the sports betting app Wagr to enhance its sports businesses and is actively involved in the M&A process. Lanzone also notes that while Yahoo is currently smaller compared to giants like Google and Microsoft’s Bing in the search market, he remains optimistic about reclaiming their position through product innovation and leveraging the potential of artificial intelligence across all their offerings.
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