The head of CBS (NYSE: CBS) operation CBSNews.com is leaving to become CEO of popular blog Huffington Post. Blogging must have hit the big time.
Huffington is bringing Betsy Morgan on board to run one of the most visited blogs on the internet. Calling itself an online newspaper, the collection of breaking stories and opinion has raised money from Softbank and Greycroft Partners. The company may have brought in as much as $10 million from VCs.
Huffington claims to have 3.5 million unique visitors a month, according to The New York Times. The company has more than 40 employees.
While the news is not earth-shattering by itself, it does highlight a trend as management and editorial talent moves from mainstream media to companies like Huffington, TechCrunch, and GigaOm. Most of these blogs were started by one or two people, but are now companies that reportedly bring in seven figures in revenue each year.
The rise of the blog may also be something of an unpleasant reminder to the newspaper industry that it has not done well with its online businesses and that much smaller news and comment sites have risen from nowhere to take over much of the market. Once again entrepreneurs triumph over big business.
Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.
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