[ChuckMcM]

Pretty simple really, AOL acquired two aggressive and ambitious bloggers (Mike Arrington and Arianna Huffington) and put them in a situation where one where they would be in constant conflict but constrained by contractual earn-out restrictions. Sort of like tying a bear to a stake and putting a dog in the ring. Much messiness ensued, painful to watch, and now Mike has left the arena (presumably with most of his money and certainly with his VC venture intact).

Perhaps he'll become like the other side of pg and write cogent essays about the marketing and PR side of startups while funding a small stable of them.