Verizon Buys Yahoo for $4.83B

Verizon is buying Yahoo for $4.83 billion, marking the end of an era for a company that once defined the internet.

It is the second time in as many years that Verizon has snapped up the remnants of a fallen internet star as it broadens its digital reach. The nation's largest wireless carrier paid $4.4 billion for AOL last year.

Yahoo will be rolled into Verizon's AOL operations and CEO Marissa Mayer may be reunited with AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, who worked with her as executives at Google for years and tried unsuccessfully to convince her to combine the two companies when they both remained independent.

"We have enormous respect for what Yahoo has accomplished: this transaction is about unleashing Yahoo's full potential," Armstrong said in a statement.

Most analysts expect the deal to end the four-year reign of Yahoo's Mayer, a former Google executive who flopped in her attempts to turn around the Sunnyvale, California, company.

Mayer, though, told employees in a Monday email that she intends to stay, though she didn't say for how long. "I love Yahoo, and I believe in all of you. It's important to me to see Yahoo into its next chapter," she wrote.

Yahoo Inc., Sunnyvale, California, is parting with its email service and still-popular websites devoted to news, finance and sports in addition to its advertising tools under pressure from shareholders fed up with a steep downturn in the company's revenue during the past eight years.

The slump has been deepening even though advertisers have been pouring more money into what is now a $160 billion market for digital advertising, according to research firm eMarketer.

Most of the money has been flowing to internet search leader Google and internet social networking leader Facebook, two companies that eclipsed Yahoo during its slide from an online sensation, once valued at $130 billion, to a dysfunctional also ran.

After the sale is completed early next year, Yahoo will become a holding company for its two stakes in China's e-commerce leader, Alibaba Group, and Yahoo Japan. Those investments, made more than a decade ago, are worth more than $40 billion before taxes, making them by far the most valuable pieces of Yahoo. The holding company will drop the Yahoo name and adopt a new identify after Verizon takes control of the operating business.

Yahoo also still has a patent portfolio that it intends to sell, and about $7.7 billion in cash. Verizon is buying Yahoo's real estate, along with the online operations.

Yahoo has hired a succession of CEOs to engineer a comeback, but finally gave up after the high hopes that accompanied Mayer's hiring fizzled out.

The sale potentially could result in thousands of layoffs. Mayer has already jettisoned 1,900 Yahoo workers since last September.

If Mayer leaves following the sale, she will be in line to receive a severance package valued at $55 million.

As people began to flock to the internet with the advent of graphical web browsers in the 1990s, Yahoo was king. After co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo began building a web directory as Stanford University computer graduate students in 1994, Yahoo quickly established itself as the online hub for tens of millions of people. It also proved internet companies could be profitable as other dot-com startups burned through millions of dollars.

But Yahoo strayed from internet search in an attempt to build a multimedia business, opening the door for Google become a powerhouse. It didn't recognize the importance of social networking and was slow to make the leap into mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Instead, Yahoo tried to buy Google and Facebook in those companies' formative years, but it was rebuffed and then dwarfed by them.

Mayer believes Yahoo can still come back now it it's about to join a bigger company in Verizon. "Yahoo is a company that changed the world and will continue to do so," she said during a Monday conference call with analysts.

China Rolls out World's Largest Amphibious Aircraft

An official news agency says China has unveiled the world's largest amphibious aircraft that Beijing plans to use for marine missions and fighting forest fires.

The Xinhua News Agency said the AG600 rolled off a production line in Zhuhai in southern China on Saturday. It measures 37 meters (121 feet) in length with a wingspan of 39 meters (128 feet).

The report cites Chinese state aircraft maker, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, as saying the plane is nearly as big as a Boeing 737.

Last week, a Cessna 208B seaplane making its inaugural flight in China crashed into a highway bridge outside Shanghai, killing five people on board.

Ronaldo Shows Off His Newly Bought Bugatti.

The Real Madrid forward has seemingly splashed out and treated himself after Portugal's surprise success at Euro 2016, adding another supercar to his collection

The "animal", as Ronaldo refers to it, appears to be a 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse version of the Veyron and can reach a top speed of 410 km/h, while it can achieve 0–100 km/h in just 2.6 seconds.

Bugatti label the car as the "most powerful and fastest series roadster in the world", and, if you're thinking of buying one for yourself, it typically sells for a cool €1.2 million...!

Conte: John Terry Will Remain As Team Captain!

John Terry will remain Chelsea captain, new manager Antonio Conte has confirmed.

The 35-year-old defender, who captained the Blues to four Premier League titles in over 700 appearances, signed a one-year contract extension in May after it appeared that he was close to leaving Stamford Bridge.

Terry described the offer as a "different role" but Conte has assured the former England skipper of his stature at the club - that he is captain whether he plays or not.

Taylor Swift Actually Wrote Calvin Harris Hit Song "This is what you came for"

Taylor Swift really is the creative brains behind Calvin Harris' monster hit "This is What You Came For," and their relationship fell apart because he disrespected her when the song was released ... this according to sources connected with Taylor.

It's a fascinating story. We've learned an early fan rumor about the song is true, but to a deeper extent than anyone suspected. During their relationship, Taylor wrote the song, sat down at a piano and did a demo into her iPhone. She sent it to Calvin, who loved it. They both went into a studio and did a full demo with Taylor on vocals and Calvin doing the beat.

They both knew the song would be a hit, but Taylor wrote it for Calvin and both agreed it was a bad idea to let the world know they collaborated as a couple ... it would overshadow the song.

So Taylor, who kept the publishing rights, used the pseudonym Nils Sjoberg on the credits.

Fast forward to April 29th. Calvin released the song with Rihanna and it became an instant hit. It's been at #1 or #2 on the Dance/Electronic chart for 9 weeks, and is #5 on the Billboard 100.

The problem in the relationship came the day the song was released. Calvin appeared on Ryan Seacrest's radio show and Ryan asked, "Will you do a collaboration with your girlfriend?" Calvin responded, "You know we haven't even spoken about it. I can't see it happening though."

We're told Taylor was hurt and felt Calvin took it too far.

It was a quick downward spiral from that point. One source called it "the breaking point in the relationship." The Met Gala was several days later, when Taylor danced with Tom Hiddleston.

BTW ... Taylor has the right to prohibit Calvin from performing the song, but she hasn't and doesn't plan to exercise that right. Ironically, Calvin once wrote a song with then-GF Rita Ora and when they broke up he yanked her right to perform it.

As for why the squad is talking now ... we're told they're sick of Calvin trashing Taylor and feel he should be thanking her for quietly giving him a smash hit.

We reached out to Taylor's rep. So far no word back.

Culled from TMZ