Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, has announced her plans to step down from her position to focus on a health and wellness startup, Thrive Global.
Huffington, 66, co-founded the Huffington Post in 2005 as a politics and news website. On Thursday, she announced her departure in a memo to the publication’s staff, explaining that she was originally going to keep running the site, but then decided to focus completely on the startup after receiving investors and hiring staff. Thrive Global will work with companies to nurture the health and wellness of their employees.
AOL acquired the Huffington Post in 2011, and it is now part of Verizon Communication Inc.’s media business. Verizon had previously given Huffington permission to pursue her startup while remaining president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post.
In a statement released by Huffington, she said, “As Thrive Global moved from an idea to a reality, with investors, staff, and offices, it became clear to me that I simply couldn’t do justice to both companies.”
Thrive Global will be focused on the “global pandemic” of stress and burnout. It will work out of the original Huffington Post offices in lower Manhattan.
Over the years, Huffington developed an increased interest in handling work while prioritizing rest, writing books such as Thrive and The Sleep Revolution.
“Change is desperately needed if another generation is to avoid the burnout that all too often comes with success today.”