Tout was an online

social networking service A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, act ...

and

microblogging Microblogging is a form of social network that permits only short posts. They "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links",. Retrieved June 5, 2014 which may be the major reason for ...

service that enabled its users to send and view 15-second videos, known as "touts." The service's core technology was created at

SRI International SRI International (SRI) is an American nonprofit scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The trustees of Stanford University established SRI in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic d ...

by Michael Downing based on two patents owned by that company. In April 2010, Tout spun off as its own company with SRI taking an equity stake. Tout gained popularity in June 2011 when basketball player

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

used the service to announce his retirement. By early 2012, Tout had received over 12 million visitors and 75 million Touts had been shared by users of the service.

Investors

On July 11, 2012,

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

invested $5,000,000 in Tout Industries, Inc.'s ("Tout") Series B Preferred Stock and in July 2012, WWE entered into a two-year strategic partnership in Tout. WWE will be eligible to receive up 11,250 shares of Tout common stock per quarter for the life of the two-year agreement that is if certain performance metrics are met during the two years of the agreement. During WWE

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

's quarterly conference call with investors held on the morning of August 2, WWE CFO George Barrios disclosed the amount of that investment to have been $5 million but would not disclose what percentage of the company that sum represents.

Stephanie McMahon Stephanie McMahon Levesque (born Stephanie Marie McMahon; ; September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is the current chairwoman and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the world's largest profe ...

, CBO of

, would appear on the Board of Directors for Tout. Starting on the July 13th, 2012 edition of one of WWE’s weekly shows, SmackDown, WWE began airing Touts of both fans and wrestlers at certain points during episodes of the show.

Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, former mixed martial artist (MMA), amateur wrestler, and professional American football player who holds both American and Canadian citizenship. He is ...

used the service to announce his

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. ...

retirement in August 2012. The WWE's partnership with the company expired in 2014 and they stopped using it afterwards.

References

External links

* {{WWE Social media companies of the United States Companies based in San Francisco Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Internet properties established in 2010 American companies established in 2010 2010 establishments in California Privately held companies based in California

Investors

See also

References

External links