Arianna’s Power and AOL
9th May 2012
The Other McCain points and laughs.
TechCrunch was a valuable property, because Michael Arrington was a valuable blogger, and the fact that he was willing to walk away from a brand he had created was one of those “Houston, we have a problem” moments, a signal that whatever skills Arianna Huffington brought to AOL, personnel management wasn’t one of them.
Successful people in online New Media tend to value their independence above almost anything else. They spotted a niche, created their sites from scratch and attracted a readership, and you can’t tell them how to do their jobs, because they invented their jobs.
Now try to imagine Michael Arrington, who sold his site to AOL for $30 million, being told a few months later that he’s now got to answer to this infamous Greek gold-digger. Not gonna happen.