Tumblr to Move Staff Into Yahoo’s NYC HQ

Yahoo’s imprint on Tumblr’s culture looks to be complete.

The entirety of Tumblr’s New York City headquarters staff will move into Yahoo’s Midtown Manhattan office, Crunchbase News has learned.

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According to several Tumblr employees, who confirmed the news on condition of anonymity, their company’s original NYC office in the Flatiron district will cease to exist at the end of this month. Instead, Tumblr employees will be relocated to Yahoo’s current New York Headquarters.

“We are looking forward to Tumblr’s move to Oath’s NYC headquarters,” Simon Khalaf, Oath’s head of media and products, told Crunchbase News. “It’s a natural progression for us to bring the Oath family of brands together as we continue to foster collaboration and build brands people love.”

Blogging platform Tumblr was acquired by Yahoo back in May 2013 for $1.1 billion—Marissa Mayer’s’ biggest buy—as a means to revamp their image into a brand geared toward a younger demographic. Given Tumblr’s early success at attracting a cult following for its blogging service, the acquisition was meant to help both parties achieve long term financial and branding success.

Since its inception, Tumblr has become known as a popular destination for independent creators and internet subcultures.

To top it off, Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp stepped down in November, signaling an end of an indie era. The move also comes on the heels of Complex Media — owned by Verizon, which also owns Yahoo under the Oath umbrella — moving into Yahoo’s Times Square building in December.

Tumblr raised Series A through E rounds from its launch in 2007 until 2012, raising a total of about $125 million before being acquired by Yahoo five years ago. Although the platform maintained an independent operation, the shadow of pressure from the Yahoo ownership created a “misunderstood” image.

While it’s unclear how Tumblr’s new office integration will operate, it’s safe to assume its culture will further be ingrained into Yahoo’s corporate one. This could likely mean a further detriment of what made Tumblr worth acquiring in 2013.