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Apollo Global Management Weighs $1.5 Billion Sale of AOL

By  |  September 17, 2025

Private equity powerhouse Apollo Global Management is exploring a potential sale of AOL, with discussions sparked by unsolicited interest that could value the company at approximately $1.5 billion, according to The New York Post.

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    The Wall Street Journal reported that talks remain in the early stages and might not lead to a finalized transaction. Apollo has not formally launched a sales process but has still engaged with interested buyers. AOL currently operates under Yahoo, which Apollo acquired from Verizon in 2021 for $5 billion. Per the New York Post, a $1.5 billion valuation would amount to about four times AOL’s annual earnings, with the business generating roughly $400 million in EBITDA.

    While AOL is no longer the internet titan it once was, its operations today include privacy and security software, the AOL.com news portal, and its longstanding email platform. Axios has noted that Apollo was not actively seeking buyers, but potential suitors have been drawn in by the company’s reliable cash flow.

    “AOL’s story isn’t about dial-up nostalgia but about trust,” Ismael Hishon-Rezaizadeh, CEO of New York-based tech firm Lagrange Labs, told the New York Post. He emphasized that AOL has reinvented itself as a media brand that thrives in an era of misinformation, highlighting its role in verifying authentic content and protecting its services such as AOL Mail and identity protection from online threats.

    The company’s financial stability has kept it attractive to investors, even as it prepares to close one of its final links to the past: dial-up internet. That service is scheduled to shut down on September 30, despite still having more than 160,000 U.S. subscribers as recently as 2023.

    AOL, originally founded as Quantum Computer Services in 1985 before becoming America Online in 1991, officially rebranded to AOL in 2006. Verizon continues to hold a 10% stake in the business following Apollo’s purchase, which also included Yahoo as part of the rebranded media portfolio.

    Source: The New York Post