TechCrunch gets a CEO; Fox Interactive Media SVP Heather Harde

Some early morning news here on the east coast, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington has hired a CEO. No word on the package but Keith Teare, TC shareholder, indicates she is now a significant shareholder in TC.

From Om Malik, "Heather Harde, senior vice president of mergers and acquisitions at Fox Interactive Media is all set to join as the new chief executive officer at TechCrunch, a technology blog edited and published by Michael Arrington. Harde’s presence will help Arrington focus most of his energies on editorial."

From Arrington, "There is a lot for her to do. She will run every aspect of our business other than editorial, which I’ll be focusing on for now. TechCrunch has grown faster than I could manage over the last couple of years. Heather’s job will be to leverage the opportunities that we have sometimes let slip by, and to manage our organic and acquisition growth going forward."

I wish Heather and Mike much success and luck and we will all be watching where the TC ship goes now. My bet is that TC starts to look at buying small startups and becoming a force in overall online media and in the VC arena.

Update: Ben Metcalfe has a good writeup about the prospects of TC becoming a VC firm.