What is Yahoo’s stock price, and are they publicly traded? Investors cannot purchase Yahoo stock today because the company is privately held and no longer trades on a public stock exchange.
With millions of users each month, Yahoo remains one of the best-known names on the internet. The company was once publicly traded, but its ownership changed significantly after Verizon acquired Yahoo’s operating business and later sold Yahoo to funds managed by Apollo Global Management.
Is Yahoo Publicly Traded?
Monday, June 19, 2017, marked the official end of Yahoo as an independently publicly traded company after Verizon completed its acquisition of Yahoo’s operating business for approximately $4.5 billion.
Verizon combined Yahoo with AOL under a media business that eventually became Verizon Media. In 2021, Verizon agreed to sell Verizon Media to funds managed by Apollo Global Management for $5 billion.
The transaction closed in September 2021, and the business returned to the Yahoo name. Yahoo now operates as a standalone private company under Apollo-managed funds, while Verizon retained a 10% stake when the deal closed.
That means there is currently no Yahoo stock ticker or public Yahoo share price available through a brokerage account.
Yahoo Company Overview
For any of you old enough to remember the pains of dial-up internet, you probably remember the mind-boggling maze of the World Wide Web. For those unfamiliar, I liken it to driving in rush hour traffic in India, no lanes, six lanes of traffic squeezed into three, some traffic lights, a road sign or two, just a complete free-for-all. (Side note: no offense to India, but I’ve been there and lived and managed to survive the traffic). It’s mind-boggling.
Now that you have that lovely picture, imagine the internet in 1994. At this time, thousands of websites were created daily, with little way to navigate them.
While seeking to make sense of this chaos, Filo and Yang decided to make their database for the web.
With many late nights and, I’m sure, headaches, Jerry and David compiled a list of their favorite websites for the Yahoo database. In the beginning, the list was manageable.
But it quickly morphed into a giant and became too large to navigate easily. The list was divided into categories (think traffic lanes), which were soon split into subcategories (think collector lanes on highways).
Eventually, the database grew and evolved into the context-based search engine it is today.
Meaning Behind Yahoo’s Name
I bet you didn’t know that Yahoo is a backronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.” Neither did I. David Filo and Jerry Yang are the brainchildren behind this rather odd and long name.
In 1994, these two engineering Ph.D. candidates at Stanford University decided their search engine needed a facelift. Their original name, “David’s and Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web,” was, let’s say, less than inspiring.
Where did they turn? No other than the trusted dictionary, I chose “yahoo” because it was a word that pretty much anyone could say and remember.
Fast-forward a few years, and the longer title, “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle,” was decided. It’s quite clever.
It perfectly described Filo and Yang’s search engine: “Hierarchical.” It described the Yahoo database arrangement perfectly: in directory layers.
Secondly, “officious” as mainly it was office workers using the database. Finally, “oracle” meant “source of truth and wisdom.”
You can look for the best real estate books or how to cook zucchini on Yahoo. You can even ask if there’s Yahoo stock.
Yahoo's Legendary Growth
Like many things, the Yahoo audience grew mostly by word of mouth. So much so that in just one year, the Stanford network became so clogged with Yahoo web search traffic that Filo and Yang had to move their Yahoo database to the offices of Netscape.
Luckily for David and Jerry, they realized an opportunity was staring them in the face. With that, they incorporated Yahoo in March 1995 and left school to work full-time at Yahoo.
One month later, Yahoo received a $2 million initial investment from Sequoia Capital investors. After that, Yahoo’s money and success continued.
As an example, their IPO in April of 1996 equaled about $1 billion for the company. Yahoo stock was off the charts then.
Yahoo Stock - Interesting Facts
- On IPO day, April 12, 1996, Yahoo stock opened and shot up to $43 within an hour. In total, 8.5 million shares traded, which equaled $1 billion for the company.
- Yahoo’s highest closing was at $118.75 a share on January 3, 2000
- David Filo and Jerry Yang never returned to finish their Ph.D. studies. However, that didn’t hamper their success; they’re both ranked by Forbes as two of the 400 wealthiest men in America.
- Yahoo uses Bing technology for search.
- Verizon completed its acquisition of Yahoo in 2017, and Yahoo is no longer an independent company.
Public Technology Company to Consider
Since you can’t buy Yahoo stock directly, one publicly traded company connected to Yahoo is Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO). Funds managed by Apollo acquired Yahoo from Verizon in 2021, and Yahoo now operates as a standalone private company under those funds.
That doesn’t mean buying Apollo stock is the same as buying Yahoo. Apollo is a large alternative asset manager with investments across many companies and industries, so Yahoo represents only part of its broader business.
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) also retained a 10% stake in Yahoo when the Apollo transaction closed. If you’re researching Verizon separately, you can visit Verizon for current company information.
Do your own research before buying any stock and make sure the company fits your investment strategy and risk tolerance.
Final Thoughts on Yahoo Stock
Yahoo stock is no longer available to trade directly because Yahoo is a private company. However, investors still have publicly traded technology and media companies they can research as alternatives.
Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO) is connected to Yahoo through the Apollo-managed funds that acquired the company, while Verizon (NYSE: VZ) retained a minority stake when the deal closed. Neither stock is a direct investment in Yahoo itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yahoo is called Yahoo. Verizon Media was renamed Yahoo after Apollo-managed funds completed their acquisition of the business in September 2021.
No. Yahoo is privately held and does not currently have publicly traded shares. The company operates as a standalone business under Apollo-managed funds, with Verizon retaining a minority stake when the 2021 transaction closed.
Yahoo could potentially go public again, but there is no announced Yahoo IPO date. CEO Jim Lanzone said in 2023 that Yahoo planned to return to the public markets, but investors should wait for an official filing or company announcement before assuming an IPO is coming.
Yahoo Finance Stock Screener is an easy-to-use, free stock-screening tool that offers a clean interface and a wide selection of filters. It’s one of the only free tools that can help you find sustainable ESG stocks.
Yahoo reached its dot-com-era peak in early January 2000. Historical prices can appear differently depending on whether the chart adjusts for Yahoo’s stock splits, so make sure you’re comparing prices on the same basis.
