(Image source: All Things D)   BY STEVEN
SPARKMAN   Yahoo's proposed $1.1 billion
buyout of Tumblr has reportedly gotten the
green light from the company's board. The
Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that people
familiar with the buyout say it's a done deal.
Word first broke on Friday that the massive
deal was all but finalized, with Yahoo! announcing
an event Monday night in New York where CEO
Marissa Mayer would be unveiling something
product-related. (Via News12)
Now the boards of both companies have reportedly
given the deal the go-ahead, making it all
but official.
Tumblr hosts more than 100 million blogs,
getting around 117 million unique visitors
last month.
And, more importantly to Yahoo!, the site
is most popular with the 18-24-year-old demographic.
(Via Quantcast)
The Wall Street Journal reports: "The company
considers the takeover to be a way to jump-start
its revenue growth and obtain a bigger presence
in social media tied to digital devices..."
Since the news broke, there have been mixed
reactions among business and tech writers.
Business Insider said of the deal:
 "We think this is a win for both Tumblr
and Yahoo. Yahoo gets a big, young audience.
Tumblr gets more money, and time, to figure
out its business."
But according to TechCrunch, Tumblr's users
aren't happy with the deal, with many claiming
they will walk away from the site if Yahoo!
buys the company.
And then there are those who bring up Geocities,
the web hosting service Yahoo! bought for
$3.6 billion in 1999 only for it to be shuttered
in the U.S. 10 years later. A writer for The
Atlantic is skeptical the Tumblr buyout will
be any different, due to the company's lack
of revenue.
 "To say there are cynics out there who
think this is going to blow up and be a disaster
for both sides is an understatement. But it's
mostly going to be a disaster for Yahoo! and
Marissa Mayer because they're the ones dumb
enough to pay $1 billion for a company that
only generated one percent of that in revenue
last year."
The $1.1 billion cash buyout is Mayer's biggest
acquisition to date, made all the more risky
by the fact that Yahoo! reportedly only had
$1.2 billion cash on hand at the end of March.
