Tumblr is currently owned by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, led by CEO Matt Mullenweg.

Quick Scoop

  • Tumblr is a microblogging and social media platform founded by David Karp in 2007.
  • Yahoo bought Tumblr in 2013 for about 1.1 billion dollars.
  • When Verizon later acquired Yahoo, Tumblr went along for the ride under Verizon’s media arm.
  • In August 2019, Verizon sold Tumblr to Automattic for a reported price in the low millions, far below the original Yahoo deal.
  • As of 2026, Tumblr remains part of Automattic’s portfolio and is positioned as a complementary, more fandom‑ and creativity‑driven platform alongside WordPress.com.

A very short story version

Once an independent startup , Tumblr was scooped up by Yahoo at the height of its hype, passed to Verizon when Yahoo was absorbed, and then finally landed with Automattic, which now owns and runs it.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.