San Francisco, Aug 13 (IANS): US carrier major Verizon has sold micro-blogging and social networking website Tumblr to blogging site WordPress' parent company Automattic Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
Post the acquisition, Tumblr would act as a "complementary" site to WordPress.
After purchasing Yahoo, Verizon had acquired Tumblr in 2017 and earlier this year, started to explore the option of selling the platform, The Verge reported on Monday quoting a Wall Street Journal report.
According to media reports, Automattic has bought Tumblr for less than $3 million -- which is a major drop in value from the $1.1 billion that Yahoo paid for it in 2013.
"We are happy to have found the perfect partner in Automattic, whose expertise and track record will unlock new and exciting possibilities for Tumblr and its users," the report quoted Verizon Media CEO Guru Gowrappan as saying in a statement.
In December last year, Verizon decided to ban adult content on Tumblr. In the process, a major number of LGBTQ members of the app, who used the platform to express their sexuality, quit the platform.
Founded in 2007, Tumblr has over 171.5 billion posts on its network as of April 2019.