Yahoo buys broker-agnostic social and community-based platform Commonstock

Yahoo has taken over a broker-agnostic social and community-based platform Commonstock. The platform drives insights for retail investors.  

The acquisition advances the power of community for Yahoo Finance and accelerates the brand’s strategy to deliver unparalleled retail investing resources, solutions and experiences to investors of all skill sets and levels. 

"Our vision for Yahoo Finance is to be the premier singular destination for all our customer’s financial needs,” said Tapan Bhat, President of Yahoo Finance. “Our platform caters to every stage of the investment process - from providing pre-trade market news and analysis, facilitating engaging pre- and post- trade conversations within our community of like-minded investors, to offering effective self-directed portfolio management tools and insights. Acquiring Commonstock reinforces this vision. The Commonstock team has built a trusted community, sharing high-quality insights and knowledge that help everyday investors create wealth. Together, Yahoo and Commonstock will further empower investors of all skills and levels through a one-stop shop for smart financial decisions.” 

Launched in August 2020, Commonstock has emerged as a popular platform for retail investors. With more than $10 billion in connected assets, the platform enables users to link their brokerage accounts, share their portfolio's performance, and discuss their trades and strategies. Its real-time alerts notify users when friends make trades, encouraging the exchange of investment strategies and fostering a collaborative investment environment. Commonstock will enhance the unique capabilities of Yahoo Finance which is home to one of the largest and most active financial communities on the web, with over 150 million global monthly users. 

"Joining Yahoo Finance is a tremendous opportunity to build community and products on the largest consumer finance stage, which will positively impact millions of loyal users," said David McDonough, CEO and founder of Commonstock. “For me, it’s personal. Yahoo Finance changed my career trajectory during the financial crisis over a decade ago. I was able to teach myself about the stock market and learned from other investors on the Yahoo Finance message boards. The unique blend of Yahoo’s reach and Commonstock’s expertise in creating retail investment communities is an incredibly powerful combination. This acquisition will allow us to accelerate our mission at scale, emphasizing community-driven knowledge and ensuring the amplification of quality insights to separate signal from noise.” 

With this acquisition, the Commonstock team will join the Yahoo Finance organization. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.