Five years after selling the HuffPo to AOL for $315 million in 2011, Arianna Huffington has had enough of media, and as she announced moments ago, she is stepping down as Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post which she founded in 2005 to run a new health and wellness venture.
Huffington, 66, announced her departure in a memo to staff of the publication. She said she had intended to keep running the Huffington Post but decided to turn her attention to her startup, Thrive Global, after attracting investors and hiring staff.
“I thought HuffPost would be my last act. But I’ve decided to step down as HuffPost’s editor-in-chief to run my new venture, Thrive Global” Huffington tweeted at the same time a Wall Street Journal article announced her departure. “To everyone at HuffPost: it’s you who make HuffPost what it is. I’m filled with gratitude to all the colleagues and friends I’ve made here.” According to Politico, Huffington will leave her namesake company in the next few weeks. Thrive Global, a company which will counsel companies on staff health and wellbeing, is an outgrowth of Huffington’s recent projects and books on sleep and wellness.
Huffington had told her staff that she was launching the new company back in June, but said it would not be a media venture. The new company, Huffington announced on Thursday, has closed its Series A funding round with investors like Sean Parker and Ken Lerer, himself a founder of Huffington Post who left when the company sold to AOL in 2012. – READ MORE
