Altaba
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Investment management |
| Predecessor | Yahoo! Inc. |
| Founded | June 16, 2017 in New York City, United States |
| Defunct | 2019 |
| Fate | Liquidated |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
| Products | Equity investments, asset management |
Number of employees | Not specified |
Altaba Inc. operated as a closed-end management investment company without diversification and was based in New York City. It originated from the remnants of Yahoo! Inc. (1995–2017) after Verizon purchased Yahoo's primary Internet operations. This acquisition was finalized on June 13, 2017, with Verizon transferring those assets to a subsidiary called Yahoo! Holdings within its Oath division (now Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present)).
Following this transaction, the original Yahoo! Inc. ceased all operating activities but maintained cash reserves, equity stakes in partnerships, bonds, and certain patents not included in Verizon’s purchase. The company restructured itself as an investment entity and adopted the name Altaba Inc. on June 16, 2017. Among Altaba’s principal holdings were its major equity interest in Alibaba Group alongside other investment assets.
The sole remaining asset under the Yahoo! brand was its share in the joint venture Yahoo! Japan, which Altaba divested to SoftBank Group toward the end of 2018.
1994–2017: Yahoo! Inc.
In January 1994, Jerry Yang and David Filo, graduate students specializing in Electrical Engineering, developed "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web," a structured directory of websites. This resource was renamed "Yahoo!" in April 1994, with the domain yahoo.com officially registered in January 1995. The acronym "YAHOO" stands for either "Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle" or "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle."
Throughout the 1990s, Yahoo! experienced rapid growth, transforming into a comprehensive web portal through multiple acquisitions. Its stock price reached a peak of US$118.75 during the dot-com bubble in 2000 but plummeted to $8.11 following the market crash in 2001. In 2008, Yahoo! declined an acquisition offer from Microsoft. By 2012, it underwent its largest workforce reduction, eliminating approximately 2,000 positions—equivalent to 14% of employees.
Carol Bartz assumed the CEO role in 2009, succeeding co-founder Jerry Yang; however, she was dismissed in 2011 and succeeded temporarily by Tim Morse. Scott Thompson became CEO in January 2012 but resigned shortly thereafter; interim leadership was provided by Ross Levinsohn until July 2012 when former Google executive Marissa Mayer took over as CEO.
Under Mayer’s direction, Yahoo! engaged in strategic acquisitions and investments, including a proposed purchase of Hulu valued between $600 million and $800 million in 2013. Yahoo!’s video services attracted approximately 45 million unique monthly visitors, exceeding Hulu's 24 million and positioning Yahoo! as a formidable rival to platforms like Google and YouTube. In July 2013, according to comScore data, Yahoo! surpassed Google in U.S. website visits for the first time since 2011.
In September 2016, Yahoo! revealed a significant data breach that compromised at least 500 million user accounts dating back to late 2014—then considered the largest known breach—exposing details such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, encrypted passwords, and security questions. A later breach originating from August 2013 affected over one billion accounts, marking it as the most extensive data breach recorded online.
After Mayer’s exit in June 2017, Thomas J. McInerney was appointed chairman and CEO of Yahoo! Inc., guiding its restructuring and transition processes.
2017–2019: Altaba Inc.
After Verizon Communications acquired Yahoo!'s primary Internet operations on June 16, 2017, the entity that remained was rebranded as Altaba Inc.. The Securities and Exchange Commission categorized Altaba as a "non-diversified, closed-end management investment company," and it commenced trading on NASDAQ using the ticker symbol AABA.
In September 2018, Altaba resolved three lawsuits concerning Yahoo's data breaches by agreeing to a $47 million settlement. During the same month, the company divested its holdings in Yahoo Japan Corporation for $4.3 billion and announced a $5.75 billion share buyback initiative, underscoring its commitment to enhancing shareholder value.
On April 3, 2019, Altaba revealed its intention to liquidate its Alibaba Group shares and proceed with a full company wind-down by the end of the year. Trading on NASDAQ was discontinued on October 2, 2019, followed by the submission of dissolution paperwork in Delaware on October 4. The firm retained a reserve to cover potential tax obligations related to the Alibaba transaction in China. In 2020, Altaba transferred its Excalibur IP patent assets to RPX Corporation.
This period signified Altaba’s evolution from an operational business into an investment entity concentrating on asset divestiture and maximizing returns for shareholders, ultimately leading to an orderly closure.
Assets
Altaba owned Excalibur IP, a patent holding company that possessed a notable minority interest (16.3%) in Alibaba Group until it was sold in 2019. The company also held stakes in Hortonworks, Gomaji, Envestnet, Rimage Corporation, SeatGeek, Protagenic Therapeutics, Eastman Kodak Company, and Paperless Post. Its portfolio management was supported by external advisors including BlackRock Advisors, LLC and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC.
Altaba had completely exited its investments in both Snap Inc. (the parent company of Snapchat) and Yahoo! Japan.