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Outlet profile

TechCrunch

U.S. tech-industry trade press, center-left cultural lean

Owned byRegent, a California-based private equity/media investment firm, acquired TechCrunch from Yahoo in a deal announced March 2025 (Yahoo retained a small minority stake); prior owners were Yahoo/Apollo Global Management (2021-2025), Verizon Media (2015-2021), and AOL (2010-2015)
FundingDigital advertising, sponsored content/events (e.g., its Disrupt conference), and revenue from its private-equity ownership structure; no subscription paywall for general readers
On the administrationmixed

Background

TechCrunch was founded in June 2005 by Michael Arrington and Keith Teare as a blog covering internet startups and Silicon Valley. AOL acquired it in 2010 for roughly $25 million, and Arrington departed in 2011 amid a conflict-of-interest controversy over his venture fund, CrunchFund, which raised questions about the site's editorial independence. Verizon acquired AOL in 2015, folding TechCrunch into Verizon Media, and in 2021 Verizon sold its media assets, including TechCrunch, to private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which merged them into a reconstituted Yahoo Inc. In March 2025, Yahoo sold TechCrunch to Regent, a media investment firm that also owns other tech publications like PCWorld and Macworld, ending a decade of ownership by telecom and ad-tech conglomerates. Throughout these ownership changes, TechCrunch has remained a widely read trade publication for startup founders, venture capitalists, and tech workers, known for breaking product and funding news, running its Disrupt conference, and occasionally facing criticism over conflicts between its journalism and its owners' business interests. Its coverage of the Trump administration's second term has been mixed: it reports critically on AI-regulation preemption and Big Tech-favorable policy moves pushed by administration figures with Silicon Valley ties, while treating deregulatory and industry-favorable actions in a largely descriptive, trade-press tone.

Sources

  1. TechCrunch (Wikipedia)
  2. Yahoo Sells TechCrunch to Private Equity Firm Regent, Streamlining Its Portfolio
  3. After Foundry, US firm Regent acquires TechCrunch from Yahoo - Silicon Canals
  4. Yahoo Sells TechCrunch to Regent, Streamlining Its Portfolio - Adweek
  5. Verizon sells Yahoo (including TechCrunch) and other media assets to private equity firm Apollo for $5 billion
  6. Trump administration might not fight state AI regulations after all | TechCrunch
  7. Trump administration wants tech companies to buy $15B of power plants they may not use | TechCrunch

Profile compiled 2026-09-30; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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