Tumblr is to be sold to the makers of WordPress

Verizon has apparently finally found a buyer for Tumblr. This company, Automattic Inc., also owns WordPress, a second major name in the same social-media vein. This may explain its interest in the now ex-Oath partner, which sustains approximately 450 million individual blogs. It was bought in its turn by Yahoo approximately 6 years ago.

The former search giant reportedly paid a total of US$1.1 billion to bring Tumblr under its umbrella in 2013. However, some correspondents put the price Automattic will have to pay for the same at $20 million, whereas others go so far as to halve that number. Moreoever, other reports assert that this figure is in fact a paltry $3 million.

By all accounts, Verizon has been trying to unload Tumblr for some time now, which may give weight to such reports. It has attracted little enough interest - without counting that of PornHub; however, as the public values of Oath and this company could be best described as incompatible, it seems Automattic is Tumblr's best remaining option as a new parent entity.