“This has been a very hard decision, but in many ways an inevitable one”, Huffington told staffers in an email Thursday morning. She said she originally planned to balance her time overseeing both companies, but after she received funding to launch Thrive Global, she decided it would require all of her attention.
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Huffington scored a fortune when AOL bought the the site for $315 million in 2011, at which point Huffington was given the title of editor-in-chief of AOL.
On Thursday morning, The Huffington Post home page linked directly to a Wall Street Journal article announcing her departure. “One of the Thrive principles is knowing when it’s time for a new chapter to begin, and for me that time has arrived”, Huffington wrote in a note on Facebook.
Last month, Verizon announced that it was acquiring Yahoo’s internet business, raising questions about how Yahoo’s news business and The Huffington Post would work together. It is now owned by Verizon Communications.
Huffington said on Twitter that she thought the Huffington Post, which made its debut in 2005, would be “my last act” but now wanted to concentrate the new venture.
In June of past year, Huffington signed a new deal to remain at the Huffington Post as president and editor-in-chief through 2019. One in particular, health and wellness, is also the subject of books recently written by Huffington, including Thrive in 2014 and The Sleep Revolution, which was published earlier this year.
Mr. Peretti founded BuzzFeed with the backing of Mr. Lerer who has become a top venture capitalist for many digital media companies and is investing in Ms. Huffington’s new venture.
At first criticized for a lack of original content, the news group has a staff of hundreds, including more than 300 news staff outside the United States, and produces 1,500 pieces of content daily.
It’s Poised to Launch In November 2016: Thrive Global will launch “after the election in November” according to the release. In 2012, the site won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on its series of stories about wounded veterans.
In a press release, Huffington (above) noted that she chose to leave the online news organization because ‘I simply couldn’t do justice to both companies’.
Arianna Huffington also said that she couldn’t split her focus between the two different companies.
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“I have been running Huffington Post for 11 years and I couldn’t imagine having another relationship with it”, she said.
