Around the Net
AOL Reduces Huffington's Role
- Wall Street Journal, Friday, May 4, 2012 11:35 AM
When AOL bought the Huffington Post last year for $315 million, it gave founder Arianna Huffington editorial reign over its portfolio properties, including TechCrunch, Patch.com, MovieFone and MapQuest. What’s more, more than 30 AOL properties, including Politics Daily, were aligned up the Huffington Post umbrella. Apparently, though, that didn’t work out, as Huffington told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that her portfolio at AOL is being reduced back to Huffington Post alone. “The management structure created tensions with staff at some of the properties,” WSJ reports. “Patch management, for instance, differed with Ms. Huffington over strategy for the local news sites, according to people familiar with the matter. TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington quit in a public spat with Ms. Huffington."
Don’t feel bad for Huffington, however. Not only did the sale of HuffPo make her a very wealthy lady, but this latest reorganization will allow her to focus on a major international expansion of the Huffington Post, as well as the introduction of a streaming video network. Better yet, as WSJ points out: “The shift gives her more control of the Post going forward.”
