Verizon sold its Verizon Media business—including Yahoo, AOL and associated media and advertising operations—to funds managed by Apollo Global Management for $5 billion. The deal was announced on May 3, 2021, and closed on September 1, 2021. Verizon retained a 10% minority stake at closing. AOL later left the Apollo-backed Yahoo business: Yahoo agreed to sell it to Bending Spoons in 2025, and the transfer took effect in January 2026.
What Verizon sold
The transaction covered Verizon Media as a business, not just the Yahoo and AOL names or websites. Verizon described the unit as including Yahoo and AOL along with associated advertising technology, media platforms and digital publishing and consumer-internet operations. Contemporary reporting also identified properties such as TechCrunch and Engadget among Verizon Media assets. The portfolio and the treatment of particular assets could vary; it is safest not to read the deal as a claim that every media-related asset Verizon had ever owned transferred unchanged.
Verizon Communications’ wireless network and telecommunications business were not part of the sale. Verizon sold the media unit, not the carrier.
Who bought it, and for how much?
Apollo Global Management was the investment sponsor; funds managed by Apollo affiliates were the buyers. Under the announced structure, those funds acquired approximately 90% of the new company and Verizon retained 10% at closing. The announced transaction value was $5 billion. Verizon’s announcement described the scope, price and retained interest in the sale agreement.
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That $5 billion figure is for the broader Verizon Media business. It should not be treated as the price of Yahoo alone or AOL alone. Nor does comparing it with Verizon’s earlier spending establish an exact loss: the 2021 sale covered a different collection of assets, and purchase consideration, adjustments, retained interests and accounting treatment complicate a simple dollar-for-dollar calculation.
How Verizon’s media business reached the sale
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| May 12, 2015 | Verizon agreed to acquire AOL for approximately $4.4 billion, at $50 per share, according to its historical disclosures. |
| July 25, 2016 | Verizon announced an agreement to acquire Yahoo’s operating business. |
| 2017 | Verizon completed the Yahoo transaction after a reported $350 million reduction related to Yahoo data-breach disclosures and liabilities. Verizon combined AOL and Yahoo operations under the name Oath. |
| 2018 | Oath was renamed Verizon Media. |
| May 3, 2021 | Verizon announced its agreement to sell Verizon Media to Apollo-managed funds for $5 billion. |
| September 1, 2021 | Apollo completed the acquisition. The company adopted the Yahoo name. |
| October 2025 | Yahoo announced an agreement to sell AOL to Bending Spoons. |
| January 2, 2026 | The AOL transfer took effect, according to AOL’s official transfer materials; later reporting identified Bending Spoons as AOL’s owner. |
Verizon’s historical filings describe the AOL deal and Yahoo transaction adjustments in its 2018 consolidated financial statements and 2018 financial section. The purchase amounts are useful context, but they do not by themselves provide a complete calculation of Verizon’s gain or loss across the period.
Why Verizon sold
Verizon said the sale would let it focus on its core network and connectivity businesses. CEO Hans Vestberg pointed to those priorities; contemporary reporting also described a retreat from digital media and advertising as Verizon concentrated on wireless infrastructure and competition around 5G. The rationale was strategic refocusing, not evidence that the sale proceeds were earmarked dollar-for-dollar for particular network upgrades. Contemporary coverage of the announcement placed the move in that broader context.
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Why Verizon had bought AOL and Yahoo
The purchases reflected a different ambition: build scale in digital advertising and consumer media. AOL offered advertising technology and media operations; Yahoo added a large internet audience, content and advertising capabilities. Verizon brought the assets together under Oath and later Verizon Media, but their familiar brands and products did not become one uniform service.
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The business faced formidable competition in digital advertising, particularly from Google and Facebook. Integrating two established internet companies also meant bringing together different products, technology systems and organizational histories while the market was shifting toward mobile use, platform-dependent advertising and tighter privacy constraints. Verizon’s strategic center remained telecommunications rather than media. Those factors help explain the retreat, but the available deal figures alone do not establish a precise cumulative loss or prove that one factor caused the sale.
What happened after the 2021 closing?
The acquired Verizon Media business became Yahoo under Apollo-backed ownership. This was a return to the Yahoo name, not a purchase of only the old Yahoo website: the post-closing company included the broader media business and operations Verizon had sold. Guru Gowrappan continued as chief executive at the time of closing, according to Yahoo’s completion announcement.
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The sequence was AOL and Yahoo operations → Oath → Verizon Media → Yahoo. The labels changed, while individual services and brands continued to operate as distinct products.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who owns Yahoo and AOL now?
As of August 18, 2026, the ownership paths had separated. Yahoo remained an Apollo-backed business; AOL had been sold by Yahoo to Bending Spoons, with the transfer taking effect in January 2026. AOL’s official transfer FAQ gave January 2, 2026 as the expected effective date, and later reporting identified Bending Spoons as AOL’s owner.
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What the ownership changes meant for users
The 2021 sale was a change of corporate ownership; the announcement did not say Yahoo Mail or AOL services would shut down. For AOL’s later transfer, AOL said existing email addresses, passwords and login details would remain unchanged and that users could continue to access accounts in the same way. The company also said a new privacy policy and terms would govern services after the transfer.
Those statements concern account continuity, not a guarantee that every product, feature, price, advertising practice or support policy would stay the same. For a particular service or account, consult its current Yahoo or AOL support information.
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