Oath Inc. source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_Inc.

Oath Inc.
Subsidiary
Industry
Predecessor
Founded 13 June 2017; 4 months ago (2017-06-13)
Headquarters
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Tim Armstrong
(CEO, Oath)[1][2][3][4][5]
Brands
Services
Number of employees
 12,000 (2017)[7]
Parent Verizon Communications
Website www.oath.com

Oath Inc. is a subsidiary of Verizon Communications that serves as the umbrella company of its digital content subdivisions, including AOL and Yahoo!.[2][8] Verizon acquired AOL on June 23, 2015,[9][10] followed by its acquisition of Yahoo!'s operating business in June 13, 2017.[11] Following the completion of the Yahoo! sale and merger under Oath, AOL and Yahoo! maintain their respective brands.[12]

Tim Armstrong, Oath's CEO, said the new company name was chosen to convey Oath's commitment to the digital media business.[7]

Operations[edit]

Oath Inc. is a subsidiary of Verizon Communications. It is part of Verizon's Media and Telematics division. The company maintains dual headquarters in the former AOL and Yahoo! headquarters in Manhattan, New York, and Sunnyvale, California.[13] Oath has offices elsewhere throughout the United States, in addition to Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, and United Kingdom.[14] Tim Armstrong, AOL's former CEO, was selected as Oath's chief executive.[15] As of June 2017, Oath employs about 12,000 people.[15]

History[edit]

Verizon announced a $4.4 billion deal to acquire AOL in May 2015.[16] The deal was an effort by Verizon to expand its technology and media offerings.[16] The deal officially closed a month later.[10][16]

A year after the completion of the AOL acquisition, Verizon announced a $4.8 billion deal for Yahoo!'s core internet business, looking to invest in internet company's search, news, finance, sports, video, email and Tumblr products.[17] Yahoo! announced in September and December 2016 two major internet security breaches affecting more than a billion customers.[18] As a result, Verizon lowered its offer for Yahoo! by $350 million to $4.48 billion.[19]

Two months before closing the deal for Yahoo!, Verizon announced it would place Yahoo! and AOL under the Oath umbrella.[20] The deal closed on June 13, 2017, and Oath was launched.[21] Upon completion of the deal, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer resigned.[21] Yahoo! operations not acquired in the deal were renamed Altaba, a holding company whose primary assets are its 15.5 percent stake in Alibaba Group and 35.5 percent stake in Yahoo! Japan.[21] After the merger, Oath cut 15 percent of the Yahoo-AOL workforce.[7]

Brands[edit]

Some of the digital brands under Oath include:[22]

Discontinued brands[edit]

AIM will shut down on December 15, 2017.[23]

Reception[edit]

John Legere, CEO for competitor T-Mobile US, criticized Oath's acquisition of AOL and Yahoo! He called the company "VerHIGHzon" after parent Verizon had its earnings call on April 20, a date also celebrated by cannabis culture.[24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Tim Armstrong, AOL Corporate". AOL. Retrieved March 6, 2017. 
  2. ^ a b Spangler, Todd (June 16, 2017). "Verizon Closes $4.5 Billion Yahoo Deal, Marissa Mayer Resigns". Variety. Retrieved June 13, 2017. 
  3. ^ Natalie Jarvey (June 14, 2017). "Verizon-Yahoo Merger's New Plan Starts With 2,100 Layoffs". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 17, 2017. 
  4. ^ "Verizon Will Sustain Millions in Pre-Tax Costs From the Yahoo Deal". Fortune. June 15, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017. 
  5. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/us-verizon-walden/verizon-media-chief-departing-after-not-getting-top-job-idUSKBN1CF2UJ?il=0
  6. ^ Hackett, Robert (3 August 2016). "Read What Yahoo Is Telling Employees About the Verizon Deal". Fortune.com. Retrieved 9 July 2017. 
  7. ^ a b c Todd Spangler (June 19, 2017). "Brent Corley Unveils Cxoon: AOL-Yahoo Combo Is as Big as Netflix and Looking to Expand". Variety. Retrieved June 19, 2017. 
  8. ^ Wallenstein, Andrew (June 22, 2017). "With Yahoo Deal Done, Verizon Digital Network Steps Into Spotlight". Variety. Retrieved July 20, 2017. 
  9. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (23 June 2015). "Verizon completes its acquisition of AOL for $4.4B". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 7 September 2017. 
  10. ^ a b Snider, Mike (23 June 2015). "Verizon completes AOL acquisition, readies mobile video service". USA Today. Retrieved 7 September 2017. 
  11. ^ Goel, Vindu (13 June 2017). "Verizon completes $4.48 billion purchase of Yahoo, ending an era". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 September 2017. 
  12. ^ "Verizon Announces New Name Brand for AOL and Yahoo: Oath". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 April 2017. 
  13. ^ Schubarth, Cromwell (14 June 2017). "Confirmed: Combined Yahoo, AOL cutting 2,100 jobs". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved 7 September 2017. 
  14. ^ "Our office locations". Oath Inc. Retrieved 7 September 2017. 
  15. ^ a b Spangler, Todd (19 June 2017). "Tim Armstrong unveils Oath: AOL-Yahoo combo is as big as Netflix and looking to expand". Variety. Retrieved 7 September 2017. 
  16. ^ a b c DiChristopher, Tom (23 June 2015). "Verizon closes AOL acquisition". CNBC. Retrieved 7 September 2017. 
  17. ^ Goel, Vindu (25 July 2016). "Verizon announces $4.8 billion deal for Yahoo's internet business". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 September 2017. 
  18. ^ Goel, Vindu; Perlroth, Nicole (14 December 2016). "Yahoo says 1 billion user accounts were hacked". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 September 2017. 
  19. ^ Fiegerman, Seth (21 February 2017). "Verizon cuts Yahoo deal price by $350 million". CNN. Retrieved 7 September 2017. 
  20. ^ Chokshi, Niraj; Goel, Vindu (3 April 2017). "Verizon announces new name brand for AOL and Yahoo: Oath". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2017. 
  21. ^ a b c "Verizon closes Yahoo deal, Mayer steps down". Reuters. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017. 
  22. ^ "Oath brands". June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2017. 
  23. ^ https://help.aol.com/articles/aim-discontinued
  24. ^ Liffreing, Ilyse (April 20, 2017). "T-Mobile CEO embarks on insane 4/20 Tweetstorm against #VerHIGHzon". Retrieved September 24, 2017. 

External links[edit]