Nick D'Aloisio might be only 17 years old, but according to reports he's already a millionaire, thanks to the sale of his news-reading app, Summly, to Yahoo. How much the app was bought for wasn't disclosed, but sources told All Things D that the company paid the British teenage boy about $30 million for the app, a mix of 90 percent cash and 10 percent stock.
His new-found fame probably doesn't make D'Aloisio a genius. Summly wasn't the most popular app ever, according to All Things D, which reported that Summly had no formalized plan for earning money, been downloaded slightly less than one million times, and has clocked in about 90 million read summaries. But it does provide a peak into how Silicon Valley millions can happen. And some observers have said it actually helped that D'Aloisio was so young. As one writer suggested in The Guardian, "If possible, be 17 years old. This helps to create attention-grabbing headlines, such as: 'The new Mark Zuckerberg', 'Wunderkind Geek,' and "Teenage Prodigy.'"
And D'Aloisio definitely is still a teenager. He told News Stream he still has other projects in the works -- while also finishing his A-level exams. But don't worry, he's also leaving plenty of time in his schedule for his new job at Yahoo, according to CNN.
"But I'm really going to be focusing on integrating summarization technology at the heart of Yahoo's mobile solution. These summaries that we provide make it a lot easier for users to consume content and information when they're on their mobile screen. So it's really exciting to be working with Yahoo and Marissa Mayer on this," D'Aloisio is quoted as telling News Stream on CNN.
Observers also have noted that bringing on D'Aloisio is bringing lots of attention to Yahoo and might be just another step in CEO and President Marissa Mayer's plans to change the company and make it a leader again online.
