Italian tech company promises to make America Online great again
(2025/10/30)
- Reference: 1761831484
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/10/30/yahoo_sells_aol_to_bending/
- Source link:
Bending Spoons, an Italian tech biz, is buying AOL from Yahoo, funded by a $2.8 billion debt financing package that will also bankroll future acquisitions.
The purchase price [1]remains undisclosed . Bending Spoons (BS) CEO Luca Ferrari estimates AOL has 8 million daily and 30 million monthly active users, making it "one of the top-ten most-used email providers in the world."
Ferrari pledged to "invest significantly to help the product and the business flourish." AOL has had numerous different owners since 2001 but that stops now, BS claimed.
[2]
"We intend to invest significantly to help the product and the business flourish," he added, "Bending Spoons has never sold an acquired business—we're confident we're the right long-term steward for AOL, and look forward to serving its large, loyal customer base for many years to come."
[3]Biden broadband benchmarks are BS, says Trump FCC
[4]Only ISPs get to determine what constitutes 'affordable' broadband, says team Trump
[5]Nvidia adds AI peanut butter to Nokia's 6G network chocolate, throws in $1 billion
[6]Mobile operators brace for bigger, faster headaches with 6G
BS has pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy. It bought file transfer service WeTransfer in 2024, [7]reportedly cutting 75 percent of staff afterward . Its 2022 [8]purchase of note-taking app Evernote was followed by [9]restrictions on free-tier users to drive paid subscriptions.
AOL's four-decade history includes a dramatic rise and falls - it was once the Internet as far as its millions of customers were concerned. AOL arguably reached its peak with the dawning of the new century. The company [10]bought the Netscape browser in 1998, and [11]Time Warner in 2000 at the height of its powers, before a lengthy decline set in.
[12]
As the dial-up service, on which AOL was founded, dwindled in favor of broadband, its fortunes waned. In 2009, AOL was [13]spun out of Time Warner, and in 2015, it was [14]acquired by Verizon. Verizon later [15]bought Yahoo! and merged the two before tiring of the whole enterprise and [16]selling the pair to Apollo Global Management in 2021.
Which brings us to the Bending Spoons acquisition.
[17]
"This transaction will allow us to focus more deeply on the aggressive roadmaps we have planned for Yahoo's core products moving forward, while ensuring AOL continues to thrive under new ownership," said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Yahoo.
AOL recently [18]switched off the last bits of its dial-up network. The number of customers affected by the termination was said to be in the low thousands. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251029086811/en/Bending-Spoons-to-acquire-AOL-following-%242.8B-debt-financing
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aQOZqGYIAFxNL3WXkgf0jwAAAYs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/22/biden_broadband_benchmarks_are_bs/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/06/us_states_affordable_broadband/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/28/nvidia_nokia_partnership_6g/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/19/ngmn_6g_report/
[7] https://www.reuters.com/technology/bending-spoons-lay-off-75-wetransfer-staff-post-deal-ceo-says-2024-09-08/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/17/evernotes_fall_from_grace_ends/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/30/evernote_free_tier_changes/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/1998/12/01/can_the_aolnetscape_deal/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2000/12/06/aol_time_warner_deal/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aQOZqGYIAFxNL3WXkgf0jwAAAYs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2009/05/28/aol_lonely_future/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2015/10/07/verizon_owns_aol_and_your_slurped_data/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2016/07/25/verizon_confirms_4_8bn_dollar_yahoo_buyout/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/03/yahoo_aol_apollo/
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aQOZqGYIAFxNL3WXkgf0jwAAAYs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/11/aol_to_pull_the_plug/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The purchase price [1]remains undisclosed . Bending Spoons (BS) CEO Luca Ferrari estimates AOL has 8 million daily and 30 million monthly active users, making it "one of the top-ten most-used email providers in the world."
Ferrari pledged to "invest significantly to help the product and the business flourish." AOL has had numerous different owners since 2001 but that stops now, BS claimed.
[2]
"We intend to invest significantly to help the product and the business flourish," he added, "Bending Spoons has never sold an acquired business—we're confident we're the right long-term steward for AOL, and look forward to serving its large, loyal customer base for many years to come."
[3]Biden broadband benchmarks are BS, says Trump FCC
[4]Only ISPs get to determine what constitutes 'affordable' broadband, says team Trump
[5]Nvidia adds AI peanut butter to Nokia's 6G network chocolate, throws in $1 billion
[6]Mobile operators brace for bigger, faster headaches with 6G
BS has pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy. It bought file transfer service WeTransfer in 2024, [7]reportedly cutting 75 percent of staff afterward . Its 2022 [8]purchase of note-taking app Evernote was followed by [9]restrictions on free-tier users to drive paid subscriptions.
AOL's four-decade history includes a dramatic rise and falls - it was once the Internet as far as its millions of customers were concerned. AOL arguably reached its peak with the dawning of the new century. The company [10]bought the Netscape browser in 1998, and [11]Time Warner in 2000 at the height of its powers, before a lengthy decline set in.
[12]
As the dial-up service, on which AOL was founded, dwindled in favor of broadband, its fortunes waned. In 2009, AOL was [13]spun out of Time Warner, and in 2015, it was [14]acquired by Verizon. Verizon later [15]bought Yahoo! and merged the two before tiring of the whole enterprise and [16]selling the pair to Apollo Global Management in 2021.
Which brings us to the Bending Spoons acquisition.
[17]
"This transaction will allow us to focus more deeply on the aggressive roadmaps we have planned for Yahoo's core products moving forward, while ensuring AOL continues to thrive under new ownership," said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Yahoo.
AOL recently [18]switched off the last bits of its dial-up network. The number of customers affected by the termination was said to be in the low thousands. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251029086811/en/Bending-Spoons-to-acquire-AOL-following-%242.8B-debt-financing
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aQOZqGYIAFxNL3WXkgf0jwAAAYs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/22/biden_broadband_benchmarks_are_bs/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/06/us_states_affordable_broadband/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/28/nvidia_nokia_partnership_6g/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/19/ngmn_6g_report/
[7] https://www.reuters.com/technology/bending-spoons-lay-off-75-wetransfer-staff-post-deal-ceo-says-2024-09-08/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/17/evernotes_fall_from_grace_ends/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/30/evernote_free_tier_changes/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/1998/12/01/can_the_aolnetscape_deal/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2000/12/06/aol_time_warner_deal/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aQOZqGYIAFxNL3WXkgf0jwAAAYs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2009/05/28/aol_lonely_future/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2015/10/07/verizon_owns_aol_and_your_slurped_data/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2016/07/25/verizon_confirms_4_8bn_dollar_yahoo_buyout/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/03/yahoo_aol_apollo/
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aQOZqGYIAFxNL3WXkgf0jwAAAYs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/11/aol_to_pull_the_plug/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Aladdin Sane
Consistently using "BS". Bravo.
Kurgan
Came here to say the same thing.
AOL addresses now mean older people
Anonymous Coward
Surely the only people using an AOL address today are in the older generation who don't know how to change things.
This also means your client base will be literally dying off.
Re: AOL addresses now mean older people
andy the pessimist
My ifa uses aol.com for email. He is older (than me). I do trust him so I'm happy that he uses old tech.
Bending Spoons?
Gene Cash
That's an... interesting... name, considering it's related to James Randi exposing how Uri Geller was fleecing marks using his bending spoons tricks.
I'm pretty sure I would not want my company associated with that. Are they in the business of tricking people, investors perhaps?
Re: Bending Spoons?
Aladdin Sane
Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth... there is no spoon.
anthonyhegedus
When I used to service/fix home users' computers, if anyone had an AOL email address I just would say we can't fix whatever it was. They were too much trouble. Not necessarily old, but stuck in their ways, unresponsive to change and ultimately awkward to deal with.
The goal here?
sarusa
I'm not even sure what the business plan is, here.
I guess they know they will have a couple million very gullible old people to fleece with scams, or at least sell access to them?
AOL
I miss my seemingly endless supply of coasters. In the old days anyone using "LOL" was instantly flagged as an AOL user and shunned in the geekier parts of the internet. I guess they won that culture war. What a legacy.