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AOL Huffington Post

Wed February 9 2011

Can Arianna and AOL play well together? This is an interesting column posing interesting questions. It is easy to see why Arianna sold, reportedly she personally made $100 M, and I read the HP just now started turning a profit. 

But from a socionomic perspective, mergers happen in bull markets and she has sold at or near the top. Think FED EX Kinko or Time Warner AOL for that matter or Daimler Chrysler or Burroughs Sperry to create Unisys. 

The cultures usually clash and the deal fails, or the acquired firm disappears in the corporate morass, just ask UNOCAL or Gulf employees at Chevron if you can find one. AOL is viewed as an also ran; so how does she come out on top?  

Actually this reminds me of Martha Stewart and K Mart, how are they doing these days?

 

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One response to “AOL Huffington Post”

  1. Kelly Camacho Avatar
    Kelly Camacho

    What is so special about the Huffington Post to make it worth so much to AOL?
    I worked for Sprint prior to and following the merger with Nextel, and it was HORRIBLE! Payroll systems got complicated, the networks did not work together for over a year, handsets and insurance for the handsets were a mess…. If I end up with a company that goes through a merger in the future I will be skeptical/concerned because of my experience in the past….

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