Heather Harde, senior vice president of mergers and acquisitions at Fox Interactive Media is all set to join as the new chief executive officer at TechCrunch, a technology blog edited and published by Michael Arrington.
Arrington could not be reached for a comment. We left him a voice mail and tried to contact him via email as well.
We are still trying to were able to confirm this information with FIM., but there is little chance we can get this information before the start of the new week. Harde was one of the early hires by Ross Levinsohn, former president of FIM.
Harde, worked on many deals for FIM including the acquisitions of Newroo and kSolo. A frequent guest at some of the earlier TechCrunch parties, Harde is quite familiar with the Silicon Valley landscape and spent a considerable amount of time in Northern California.
As someone who is trying to balance editorial tasks with chief janitorial duties that go with the title of a founder, Harde’s presence will help Arrington focus most of his energies on editorial.
Photo: Harde and Arrington, sharing a laugh at Gnomedex; copyright: Laughing Squid/Scott Beale, hosted by Flickr.
61 comments so far
6:57 PM PT
Fox Interactive M&A SVP Set To Join Techcrunch As CEO: Report…
A very interesting development in this blog media world: Gigaom reports that Heather Harde, SVP of M&A at Fox Interactive Media is all set to join as the new CEO at the tech blog media site and company Techcrunch. This adds to a more professional t…
7:17 PM PT
So does this mean that TechCrunch will be “Fair and Balanced” in typical Fox style?
7:22 PM PT
Very interesting. Can’t help but wonder if the hiring of an M&A specialist as CEO won’t lead to some significant expansion for the popular tech brand.
Great scoop!
7:41 PM PT
Brendan,
I suspect you are thinking along the same lines. Mike has often remarked that he wants to expand via acqusition and basically I think Heather is going to be a great addition to his team, and make his vision come true. Now a MA banker and an attorney in da house, even fees are going to be pretty low ;-)
8:29 PM PT
Newroo and kSolo acquisitions…quick, tell me those are sponge-worthy, please!?!? Can someone verify if this is same chick who worked at News America Marketing on retail coupons?
8:45 PM PT
I think he should be hiring writers. Oh, that’s right, he tried that.
8:49 PM PT
CEO of a ‘blog’?? WTF?
This web 2.0 madness is beginning to take full hold of people.
9:19 PM PT
Janus,
Looks like Mike is building out his business and is bringing in much needed help. I would say this is first step towards turning TC into a full fledged publishing business.
On the Web 2.0 madness, well that is a topic of another post and I might be in full sync with you on that.
9:32 PM PT
Interesting. I just don’t know why he would need a CEO, but I guess he is the top dog, right? Top dogs are always usually innovating.
So … Om… when are YOU hiring YOUR CEO? :)
Rex
9:40 PM PT
Rex,
you are right… he is doing his thing. For now, I am going to see how long I wear the two hats and make it all work.
But in the long run, all growing concerns need outside help, and a seasoned and innovative chief executive can do wonders for the little start-ups.
9:52 PM PT
Agreed that “a seasoned and innovative chief executive can do wonders for the little start-ups” - but she ain’t cheap thou…
~Hillary
10:00 PM PT
Hillary,
I bet nothing that is good is cheap, and I for one am happy to see that someone like heather is taking on a new role. it makes perfect sense to get someone from the big media side of things to the emergent platforms, aka blogging.
10:20 PM PT
Posting @ 10:00PM on a Saturday night? Get a life. Time to go clubbing….
10:33 PM PT
Hey Joe, I wish… I don’t have a CEO so answering email. Actually i am down with a bad back injury so moving around is tad difficult and given that i am not drinking…. well what’s the point of clubbing! THanks for reminding me ;-)
10:36 PM PT
Oh, Om, some cheap things are good and fun.
10:37 PM PT
Well, we are not talking about cheap publicity here ;-)
10:44 PM PT
[...] Hire a Manager? March 18th, 2007 at 12:13 am by Tony Well, when you’re Mike Arrington you do. GigaOm reports that TechCrunch has hired a CEO, named Heather Harde who is formerly senior VP of acquisitions and [...]
11:13 PM PT
[...] Arrington met fin à la rumeur et annonce l’arrivée d’ici la fin du mois de Heather Harde comme nouvelle patronne de [...]
11:22 PM PT
wow, you’re annoying.
11:45 PM PT
[...] Arrington ist nicht mehr sein eigener Boss und Om Malik wusste es schon vorher. » Filed under Schnipsel by Timo Heuer at 7:45. back to [...]
11:55 PM PT
It must be tempting, in the new world of media, to rely on broadcast executives. In one way, they’re experienced. Unfortunatly, they’re experienced in the wrong things — particularly someone from FOX.
3:39 AM PT
[...] GigaOM broke the news about TechCrunch getting a CEO - a former FOX executive, Heather Harde. [...]
3:53 AM PT
[...] Om Malik has just broken the news that Heather Harde, senior vice president of mergers and acquisitions at Fox Interactive Media and a Harvard MBA, has been appointed as the new CEO of TechCrunch. [...]
4:09 AM PT
[...] from a leaked Fox email where it was confirmed that Heather Harde will be leaving FIM & joining the TechCrunch Network at the end of the month. In July 2005, FIM was formed to manage the growing [...]
5:19 AM PT
[...] GigaOM » Fox executive new TechCrunch CEO [...]
5:54 AM PT
[...] news of Arrington’s new CEO is no small event. There are oodles of things Mike could be doing with [...]
6:58 AM PT
How long until he launches a takeover bid for GigaOm? :-)
8:41 AM PT
Jim Hass,
Read the post again. She’s from FOX INTERACTIVE MEDIA, not FOX TV or FOX NEWS. Fox Interactive Media = the people who own MySpace.
8:57 AM PT
[...] Malik broke the news, Michael Arrington also confirmed it [...]
10:16 AM PT
Smart move, wont mind selling mediarati.com, veetube.com. or bazaah.com for the right price to them.
10:22 AM PT
This is a smart move. I think this will probably free Mike up to expand on the empire, and I wouldn’t be suprised to see some new products and offerings from TC. There seems to be a lot of Fox bashing here, but the fact is that FIM is actually pretty damn good at what they do.
They arguably got a steal of a deal for MySpace, and Newroo will be the basis for an actually decent MySpace news product. Good for TC!
11:04 AM PT
[...] Malik broke the news, Michael Arrington also confirmed it [...]
11:11 AM PT
[...] of the big news items this weekend had to be the story first broke by Om Malik that Mike Arrington had gone out and hired himself a CEO for his growing Crunch empire. [...]
11:31 AM PT
[...] have the pleasure of confirming the rumors: Heather Harde, currently the SVP of Mergers and Acquisitions at Fox Interactive Media, will start [...]
12:02 PM PT
nice scoop Om. (and nice scoop Mike too ;)
1:42 PM PT
If Tello is a sample of things to come, having experienced, savvy dealmakers on board will be a good counter-cyclical move on Mike’s part.
3:42 PM PT
Nice scoop, Om.
I’ve met Heather; and Michael’s made a wise and prescient move here. She’s a sharp and experienced lady…just one more example that blogging really is growing up to become an important; if not universally liked and/or accepted; player in the media world.
…now, as for your back, for many; though it may seem counterintuitive as many doctors and health practitioners still recommend “rest” and heat; ice packs placed over the painful area/s (with a t-shirt or other thin material to prevent ice burn) with slow walking is often successful.
This is especially effective for lower back pain/spasms/tightness.
3:54 PM PT
Does this take blog out of TC?
3:56 PM PT
Web 2.0 FTW !
4:02 PM PT
Since Heather is experienced with M&A, is an acquisition of GigaOm (for the right price of course) a possibility as Matt mentioned? From a reader’s perspective, you both seem to be friendly rivals covering the same goods.
Also whats up with these links within the comments?? Its like spam. Please Om, have these removed…really annoying.
8:14 PM PT
So I’ll just say it: if we believe Harde’s hiring will culminate in some M&A, and Mr. Arrington is eager to expand is publishing presences and tech coverage, is it absurd to think there’s a TechCrunch-GigaOm merger at some point in the future? I’m just thinkin’ out loud here…
12:20 AM PT
they might just want to gobble you up as well.
8:02 AM PT
[...] - Deanna Brown leaves Yahoo to joins Scripps as president of interactive - Heather Harde shifts from Fox Interactive Media to CEO of Techcrunch [...]
8:24 AM PT
[...] - Deanna Brown leaves Yahoo to joins Scripps as president of interactive - Heather Harde shifts from Fox Interactive Media to CEO of Techcrunch [...]
6:20 PM PT
[...] Gigaom在之前就传出了Fox公司的Heather Harde将会加入Techcrunch的消息，两天前Mike也证实这个消息。Heather将成为Techcrunch，也许是第一个博客站点的CEO。 [...]
7:45 PM PT
[...] Malik broke a story this past weekend that TechCrunch has hired a CEO. And the blogging community is having a field day with it, debating what it means for TechCrunch [...]
10:45 PM PT
[...] hires a new CEO. So, they now have enough ad money to pay a CEO, [...]
11:57 AM PT
[...] of it was starting to leak (see Wired and CNET as well). I don’t want to be in a position again where other sites are breaking our news, so we’re announcing officially this [...]
1:05 PM PT
[...] of it was starting to leak (see Wired and CNET as well). I don’t want to be in a position again where other sites are breaking our news, so we’re announcing officially this [...]
7:38 PM PT
[...] of it was starting to leak (see Wired and CNET as well). I don’t want to be in a position again where other sites are breaking our news, so we’re announcing officially this [...]
11:58 PM PT
[...] of it was starting to leak (see Wired and CNET as well). I don’t want to be in a position again where other sites are breaking our news, so we’re announcing officially this [...]
10:23 AM PT
[...] well. Adding gadget blogs a job board and many others to the Crunch network. With the move to employ a CEO it looks like the future is well [...]
5:50 PM PT
[...] Om: TechCrunch lands Fox exec as CEO. Michael Arrington announcement. Donna Bogatin: TechCrunch goes pro: What’s the [...]
8:13 PM PT
Heather Mills McCartney
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read.
4:33 PM PT
[...] Hiring Heather Harde as CEO was the best decision I’ve made so far. I was simply not able to leverage myself any further - writing full time, managing the other editors, selling ads and running the back office was killing me. Heather has stepped in and has brought calm to the chaos. [...]
5:14 PM PT
[...] Hiring Heather Harde as CEO was the best decision I’ve made so far. I was simply not able to leverage myself any further - writing full time, managing the other editors, selling ads and running the back office was killing me. Heather has stepped in and has brought calm to the chaos. [...]
5:18 PM PT
[...] Hiring Heather Harde as CEO was the best decision I’ve made so far. I was simply not able to leverage myself any further - writing full time, managing the other editors, selling ads and running the back office was killing me. Heather has stepped in and has brought calm to the chaos. [...]
9:00 PM PT
[...] Hiring Heather Harde as CEO was the best decision I’ve made so far. I was simply not able to leverage myself any further - writing full time, managing the other editors, selling ads and running the back office was killing me. Heather has stepped in and has brought calm to the chaos. [...]
8:23 PM PT
[...] not surprised at all by this move, since I went through it myself. When Om wrote about our hire of Heather Harde as CEO he mentioned how difficult it was to balance what he called [...]
8:23 PM PT
[...] not surprised at all by this move, since I went through it myself. When Om wrote about our hire of Heather Harde as CEO he mentioned how difficult it was to balance what he called [...]
5:42 PM PT
[...] Riley, Julia French, Michael Copeland of Fortune, Robert Scoble, John Furrier of Podtech, Heather Harde of TechCrunch, Mike Macadaan of Twiistup and AOL, Frank Gruber of AOL and Somewhat Frank, Reese [...]
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