From the Editor
Feb 7, 2011

AOL Buys Huffington Post

Arianna Huffington's news site reportedly fetched $315 million.

 

Associated Press

Blogger in Chief Arianna Huffington launched her New York City -- based news and opinion website just as what she calls "the national conversation" was moving online.

The Huffington Post is set to be sold to AOL, according to an announcement the site's founder, Arianna Huffington, posted at one past midnight.

"By combining HuffPost with AOL's network of sites, thriving video initiative, local focus, and international reach, we know we'll be creating a company that can have an enormous impact, reaching a global audience on every imaginable platform," she writes.

The deal comes just over four months after AOL acquired Techcrunch from Michael Arrington, and is in keeping with AOL CEO Tim Armstrong's avowed goal of transforming the original dial-up giant into a major content player. Arrington has, in his brief tenure as an AOL employee, squabbled rather openly with his colleagues. How will the outspoken Huffington fare? Post acquisition, founder Arianna Huffington will reportedly oversee editorial at all AOL properties including Techcrunch and Engadget. That means that she will have an outsize inflience on the dissmenination of news and opinion online.

Which is exactly what her ambition has been from the time she launched the Huffington Post six years ago. "I find it very easy to connect with people," she told Inc. contributor Daniel McGinn a year ago. "And that's part of the Huffington Post. I'm bringing in voices -- some well known, some not -- and providing a platform."


Mike Hofman was previously editor of Inc.com and a deputy editor at Inc. magazine, which he joined in 1996. The site was nominated for a National Magazine Award for Digital Media in 2010, and was named the best business website by Folio Magazine. In 2006, Hofman was part of a team of writers nominated for a Webby Award for best business blog. He lives in New York City. @mikehofman