Teenager makes millions with news app
A British teenager has become a multi-millionaire after selling an app he created to web giant Yahoo. The deal is reported to be worth up to $30 million and includes a position working on Yahoo's future mobile projects. Nick D'Aloisio, 17, started his Summly app when he was just 15. He was studying for school exams and became frustrated at ploughing through lengthy online articles. He created the app to summarise long reports so people could more easily digest the content. Yahoo's boss of mobile content development Adam Cahan said: "It started with an insight, that we live in a world of constant information and need new ways to simplify how we find the stories that are important to us, at a glance." Mr D'Aloisio started coding when he was 12 years old and developed the bulk of his Summly app in his bedroom. He launched his app when he was 15 and it soon attracted over $1.5 million of investment, including from Hollywood stars Ashton Kutcher and Stephen Fry. The acquisition by Yahoo makes the British teen one of the world's youngest self-made millionaires. He believes his tie-up with Yahoo is perfect, saying: "To me, Yahoo is the best company to be joining right now because it's one of these classic Internet companies. With new leadership from Marissa Mayer, Yahoo has a strong focus on mobile and product, and that's the perfect fit for Summly." |