Yahoo to bid $1.1 billion for Tumblr

SAN FRANCISCO – Yahoo’s board of directors has approved a $1.1 billion cash acquisition of blogging site Tumblr.

It’s the biggest and riskiest deal yet for Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer, who is trying to make pioneering Internet company relevant to young people who have gravitated to other services and to mobile devices.

The board of the Sunnyvale, Calif., Internet company met Sunday to consider the transaction, which Mayer negotiated. The deal – a major statement about the direction she plans to take Yahoo – is expected to be announced today.

In an invitation sent to the news media Friday, Yahoo promised to announce “something special” late today in New York. The event is being held two miles from Tumblr’s headquarters.

Tumblr is enormously popular with teenagers and young adults, a demographic Yahoo must reach to pull out of a prolonged slump.

Founded in 2007, Tumblr has ridden its popularity to acclaim but has failed to establish a thriving advertising business.