Arrington A Great Loss For AOL, Says IAC Chairman Barry Diller

Michael Arrington, founding editor of TechCrunch, has officially left the website following a public dispute with AOL (NYSE: AOL), the website's owner of nearly a year.

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong announced Monday that Michael Arrington has “decided to move on from TechCrunch and AOL to his newly formed venture fund.” This refers to Arrington's $20 million venture fund, CrunchFund.

Announced on September 1, CrunchFund began the controversy surrounding Arrington's position with TechCrunch. Many questioned the ethics of an editor of a technology news site investing in technology companies. Arianna Huffington, AOL's top editor, announced the following morning that Arrington was no longer employed by AOL, a fact that she had not privately disclosed to Arrington or AOL executives beforehand.

TechCrunch co-editor Erick Schonfeld has since been appointed as the site's lead editor.

IAC (NASDAQ: IACI) Chairman Barry Diller has since condemned AOL for firing Arrington. At The Paley Center for Media's International Council on Wednesday, Diller stated that TechCrunch is “not a journalistic enterprise . . . and so to have treated it as such is to destroy it.” Diller had earlier mentioned that a company (TechCrunch) is bought (for $30 million) for a particular voice, in this case Michael Arrington's voice. With the firing of Arrington, Diller says the site no longer has a voice.

Diller says it best, adding, “Congratulations. What a good piece of business.”