Francisco leaving Marketwatch

Embattled Marketwatch tech columnist Bambi Francisco announced in a column posted late Friday afternoon that she’s leaving the business news web site amid allegations of a conflict of interest.

Francisco had been allowed to invest in a start-up company with the understanding that she not write about it or its customers. But recent media reports have shown that didn’t happen.

Francisco wrote, “My boss, David Callaway, MarketWatch’s editor-in-chief, gave me his blessing, with certain ground rules, many months ago. Dave allowed me to stay at MarketWatch while incubating Vator.tv in my spare time. The understanding had always been that if it got to a point at which I could not proceed without conflicts of interest, then I would leave MarketWatch to focus on Vator.tv.

“So I have decided to run Vator.tv full-time, and I believe in the company.

“With much regret, I’m leaving MarketWatch, my employer for eight years, as a full-time columnist and correspondent, though I hope to maintain ties.

“I’m going to try my hand as an entrepreneur. I think I’m making the right decision. If I didn’t make this decision, I would always regret not trying.”

Read more here. CNET News.com reporter Greg Sandoval, who wrote about the issue on Thursday, posted a story late this evening that quotes from a Dow Jones release. Read that here.