TechCrunch
U.S. center-left (tech-industry focus)
Background
TechCrunch was founded in June 2005 by Michael Arrington and Keith Teare as a blog covering Silicon Valley startups and internet products. AOL acquired it in September 2010 for roughly $25 million; the deal was announced live at TechCrunch's own Disrupt conference. Tensions over editorial independence followed, and Arrington departed in 2011. When Verizon bought AOL in 2015 for $4.4 billion, TechCrunch came along; Verizon then sold its media holdings — including Yahoo and TechCrunch — to private equity firm Apollo Global Management in 2021 for about $5 billion, and the bundle was rebranded as Yahoo Inc. In March 2025, Yahoo sold TechCrunch to Regent LP, ending nearly 15 years under large corporate ownership. Throughout these changes, TechCrunch maintained a reputation for fast-breaking startup and venture-capital news, though critics have periodically noted close ties between its reporters and the investor community it covers. Media bias raters place it from neutral (Ad Fontes Media) to left-center (Media Bias/Fact Check), with consistently high marks for factual accuracy. Its editorial voice favors scrutiny of tech-policy decisions it sees as harmful to the industry or to innovation.
Sources
- TechCrunch – Wikipedia
- Yahoo sells TechCrunch to investment firm Regent – Axios
- TechCrunch has, yes, personal news! – TechCrunch
- Regent acquires TechCrunch from Yahoo as private equity reshapes digital media – PE Insights
- Yahoo Sells TechCrunch to Investment Firm Regent – Variety
- TechCrunch – Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
- TechCrunch Bias and Reliability – Ad Fontes Media
- AOL buys TechCrunch – CNN Money
- Trump administration threatens 92 GW of new electricity supply with red tape – TechCrunch
- Trump administration plans to cut CISA budget by $700 million – TechCrunch
Profile compiled 2026-07-02; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.