Yahoo Japan

History

Yahoo! and SoftBank formed Yahoo! Japan in January 1996 to establish the first web portal in Japan. Yahoo! Japan went live on April 1, 1996. Yahoo! Japan was listed on JASDAQ in November 1997. In January 2000, it became the first stock in Japanese history to trade for more than ¥100 million per share. The company was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 2003 and became part of the Nikkei 225 stock market index in 2005.

Yahoo! Japan acquired the naming rights for the Fukuoka Dome in 2005, renaming the dome as the "Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome". The "Yahoo Dome" is the home field for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, a professional baseball team, majorly owned by SoftBank.

In 2017, Verizon Communications completed its acquisition of Yahoo's core internet business for approximately $4.83 billion in cash. Yahoo's operating business, which included popular products like Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance, and Tumblr, was merged with Verizon's existing media subsidiary AOL to form a new subsidiary called Oath (later renamed Verizon Media).

However, the acquisition did not include Yahoo's stakes in Alibaba Group, Yahoo Japan, or other minority investments. These assets remained under Yahoo, which was renamed Altaba and became a publicly traded investment company. Importantly, Yahoo Japan, which had operated as a separate joint venture, was not affected by Verizon's acquisition of Yahoo's core business. Yahoo Japan continued to use the Yahoo brand and operate independently.

The deal marked the end of Yahoo's run as an independent company after over 20 years. Despite the acquisition, Yahoo Japan remained a separate entity, maintaining its own branding and operations distinct from Verizon's ownership of Yahoo's U.S. business.