TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington officially leaves AOL to focus on venture fund

After a trubulent week of turmoil and drama, TechCrunch founder and editor Michael Arrington has officially left both the tech blog and its owner, AOL.

Mike wanted to start a venture fund. He dubbed it the CrunchFund, and media ignited a firestorm over the ethical controversy surrounding a company that invests in startups being so closely associated with a news property that covers startups. From there, things went from bad to ugly, with several TechCrunch writers like MG Siegler and Paul Carr expressing their emotional opinions.

Today, AOL issued a statement cementing the move:

“The TechCrunch acquisition has been a success for AOL and for our shareholders, and we are very excited about its future. Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch has decided to move on from TechCrunch and AOL to his newly formed venture fund. Michael is a world-class entrepreneur and we look forward to supporting his new endeavor through our investment in his venture fund. Erick Schonfeld has been named the editor of TechCrunch. TechCrunch will be expanding its editorial leadership in the coming months.”