

Is Michael Arrington About To Sell TechCrunch? - kgermino
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/05/03/businessinsider-did-michael-arrington-just-move-to-seattle-because-hes-about-to-sell-techcrunch-2010-5.DTL

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zitterbewegung
Looks like someone out techcrunched techcrunch. Same citations of questionable
sources, same wild speculations.

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GavinB
This is clearly marked as speculation in both the title and the body of the
article.

It cites a fact from a totally non-questionable source (Arrington himself says
he's moving) and then explores the potential implications, based on tax law
and market analysis.

If we're allowed to speculate on HN, why can't SFGate speculate as well?

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nfnaaron
"One commenter on Y Combinator's Hacker News site makes an interesting point:
..."

Help, I've recursed and I can't get up.

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eru
Quick, find a base case.

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jseifer
If TC wrote it:

"There is no indication that Michael Arrington has entertained any actual
offers to buy TechCrunch at this time, and in fact we don’t even have direct
information that negotiations are taking place. But it’s clear that Michael
Arrington is at least considering selling TechCrunch."

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thiele
+1 for the uber TechCrunch style headline.

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kgermino
On a side note, I hate it when sites, such as SFGate, append the story URL
when I copy the title. If a writer is honest they will give credit either way
and if they're submitting to say HN the URL just makes problems. <End Rant>

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w1ntermute
The solution is to block tcr.tynt.com:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1299066>

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sh1mmer
It's interesting that BI quotes our community. I've never seen that for Reddit
or Digg in any "serious" publication.

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jeremymcanally
Reddit has been quoted numerous times; the last one I remember was some
FoxNews story.

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sh1mmer
Happy to be wrong :)

Edit: oh wait you said Fox.

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jodrellblank
Well you did put serious in quotes ;)

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rdl
How does the tax thing work if you build the business while in CA, but get the
capital gain while a resident of another state?

With US federal taxes, they actually tax you on the unrealized capital gain if
you expatriate, but that's a much bigger change than changing state of
residency within the US.

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sfall
it has to do with California state taxes, if his residence moves to another
state sale of assets will go to that state. And we know California has high
state taxes he may try to avoid.

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terra_t
I dunno... Mike has been complaining for years that TC isn't any fun. I
wouldn't blame him for selling.

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vaksel
techcrunch is not a business he can sell. He is too embedded in the site, all
his scoops etc are due to his personal contacts. Face it, he is the face of
techcrunch.

Pretty much all the scoops get posted by him. The other techcrunch writers
tend to just summarize press releases, they don't do any actual investigative
journalism.

I think this is just a case of Arrington making a personal choice not to get
raped by California high property values.

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alain94040
Of course Mike can sell if he wants to. I can think of a bunch of media
outlets who would love to swallow TC's traffic. The deal would just have to
include a transition phase. As the article itself noted, Mike's involvement is
already maybe half of what it was two years ago.

Think Microsoft and Bill Gates. 10 years ago, it was inconceivable for Bill
Gates to ever leave Microsoft. And it happened without major trauma (meaning
you can argue that Microsoft is not as good as they used to be, but it didn't
tank overnight).

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avk
If Arrington did sell TechCrunch, how would that affect events like
TechCrunch50? Would be interesting to see what he would go on to do next...

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sabat
I wouldn't blame him. He's got a right to take profits.

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stuntmouse
Right, he didn't benefit at all from running his business in California for
years. Why should he give back his fair share when he has the resources to
dodge it?

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anigbrowl
I'll pay $5000 for it

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jgilliam
Cool, California doesn't need the tax revenue anyway.

