Michael Arrington Founder of the TechCrunch blog Date of Birth: 13.03.1970 Country: USA

Biography of Michael Arrington

Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch blog, is the epitome of a successful blogger who managed to generate a revenue of $200,000 per month from his blog in just two years. Michael Arrington was born in 1970 in Orange, California. He spent his childhood in Huntington Beach, California and Surrey, England. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and obtained his degree in economics from Claremont McKenna College. Arrington completed his law degree from Stanford University in 1995 and then gained experience at 'O'Melveny & Myers' and 'Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati' law firms. Later, Michael joined 'Real Names', a venture that infamously failed with a loss of $100 million. Following this, Arrington became one of the founders of 'Achex', an internet payment company which was later sold to 'First Data Corp' for $32 million and is now part of 'Western Union'. Michael commented on his earnings at the time, saying, "I made enough to buy a Porsche. Nothing more". Today, Michael Arrington is best known for his internet project, TechCrunch. TechCrunch is a blog about Silicon Valley that covers startups in the area, as well as technological news in the United States and around the world. Interestingly, the project started as a hobby when Arrington conducted research on the creation of Silicon Valley in 2005 and decided to publish his findings online. The blog became popular and soon became one of the most visited resources on the internet. Currently, Arrington's creation attracts nearly 10 million users monthly and is valued at approximately $10,000,000. TechCrunch has become one of the most respected sources for the latest news on innovations and technology companies. Arrington himself served as the editor-in-chief of his creation, striving to cover all the latest technology advancements and IT events. In 2008, 'Time' named Arrington one of the "most influential people in the world", and he also made similar lists in 'Wired' and 'Forbes' magazines. Arrington described his resource, saying, "If a story is breaking, I want to be the first to report it. We publish far more news than all other resources combined, and these are not just preliminary summaries that were given to us. When we publish a story, it's a point. If someone else publishes the breaking news before us, it's minus one point. But I always strive for more positive points". In an interview, Michael shared that for several years his lifestyle was quite disorderly – he worked until he collapsed, and then, regardless of the time, day or night, he would wake up and start working again. During this period, he distanced himself from friends and social aspects of life, gained weight, and did not look his best. Later, he was able to overcome the situation, organize his routine, and collaborate with a doctor who helped him get back to his previous state. In 2011, Michael Arrington's tech blog was acquired by 'AOL', and in September of the same year, Arrington left TechCrunch, also departing from the associated investment company 'AOL Ventures'. During that time, 'Fortune' magazine reported that Arrington became the founder of the venture fund 'CrunchFund'. It is known that Michael surprised the public with his statement about education. During his lecture series 'Distinguished Innovator' at the University of California, Berkeley (UC-Berkeley), he stated, "The best thing you can do is to spend a year at Harvard and then drop out. Everyone will know that you were smart enough to get in". Overall, Michael Arrington is a unique individual. He enjoys heavy music and works a lot. He considers himself an introvert and prefers to be alone, which can sometimes make him come across as arrogant to some people. In an interview in 2010, he admitted, "Honestly, my goal today is to establish a real life outside of my work".