Kara Swisher of All Things D reports that AOL has decided against selling tech news site TechCrunch back to founder Michael Arrington and is now working on a negotiating a severance package with him.
Swisher writes, “Source said the sides are still caught on the terms of the parting, including whether Arrington and other TechCrunch staffers will get the big-money earn-outs based on their staying at AOL, as well what would happen if Arrington were to start a competing blog site and siphon away editorial staffers from TechCrunch.
“Hanging over the proceedings: Next week’s lucrative TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, where Arrington and other TechCrunch staffers interview tech luminaries and show off new start-ups.
“Also in play is the status of the site’s writers. At least one — the windswept Paul Carr — has written on TechCrunch that he will resign if Arrington is not allowed to handpick his successor.”
Read more here.
