WhereIsAtlas · Internet

Yahoo

The internet's first giant that fumbled the future

Transformed — The internet's first giant dominated the 1990s, then fumbled Google, Facebook and its own future - sold to Verizon in 2017.

Yahoo was the internet's first media giant. Founded in 1994 by Jerry Yang and David Filo as a directory of the web, it became the default homepage for a generation - a portal of search, news, mail and finance that at its dot-com peak in 2000 was valued at around $125 billion.

Then it repeatedly fumbled the future. In 1998 Yahoo reportedly passed on buying a search startup called Google; in 2006 it declined Facebook; its own search and ad business slowly bled to the two companies it had waved off. Years of revolving leadership and failed restructuring followed.

After a disastrous 2016 auction, Yahoo sold its core businesses to Verizon in 2017 for about $4.5 billion - a fraction of its peak. The name survives, but the independent giant that once ruled the web is gone. Its most valuable remaining asset was a stake in Alibaba, a piece of the future it also nearly wasted.

Quick facts

Founded
1994, by Yang & Filo
Peak value
≈ $125B (2000)
Missed
Bought neither Google nor Facebook
Sold to
Verizon, 2017 (≈ $4.5B)
Crown jewel left
Its Alibaba stake

Sources

Related: myspace · dot com bubble · blockbuster