Altaba: tech giant Yahoo’s bizarre new name
Yahoo is set for a new name after it was sold to Verizon. Photo: AAP
Yahoo, the tech company that once ran the internet’s most popular website, will soon have an unusual new name – Altaba.
The company’s new corporate identity is the result of a proposed $6.5 billion ($US4.8 billion) sale of its email, websites, mobile apps and advertising tools to the US communications giant Verizon.
Yahoo’s major asset is its shares in China’s Alibaba Group, a popular online marketplace, and the name is said to be a combination of the words “alternative and Alibaba”, according to the Washington Post.
The company’s 15 per cent share of Alibaba is worth about $35 billion.
Internet users were quick to poke fun at the new name.
https://twitter.com/debostic/status/818643703334105088
Altaba is Arabic for "set money on fire."
— Rudy Havenstein, Senior Markets Commentator. (@RudyHavenstein) January 10, 2017
In the 1990s, Yahoo was a giant of the internet landscape and claimed to have the largest audience of any web site or online service.
Today, it is still the third most visited web site in the US, according to the Post.
The company’s downfall began in the 2000. Once worth more than $100 billion, the Verizon deal is worth only $4.8 billion.
In 2014, it came under a “coordinated effort” from hackers trying to access Yahoo Mail.
Yahoo said the company was expected to officially become Altaba when the sale is closed by late March.
