Tumblr CEO David Karp: Yahoo CEO Mayer has lived up to promises

[SAN FRANCISCO] Yahoo! Inc. chief executive officer Marissa Mayer has lived up to promises she made when the Web portal bought Tumblr, said David Karp, CEO of the blogging service.

"Those were an emotional couple of weeks" Mr Karp told Bloomberg Television's Emily Chang, "but it was an incredible offer, and incredible opportunity, and a real promise that she was making." In a wide-ranging interview, Tumblr's founder said he has "an amazing mentor in Marissa," and that he's confident in her leadership and guidance for the blogging platform.

Mr Karp insisted he was never trying to sell the company in 2013 for US$1.1 billion and was instead looking to raise more money. With Yahoo's help, Tumblr has amassed more than 200 million blogs and now reaches an audience of more than 420 million people, Mr Karp said.

He also talks about Tumblr's earliest days, when Mr Karp said he had "plenty of absolutely stomach-turning moments, and plenty of nights without sleep." BLOOMBERG