There’s no right way to say: “Congratulations on the AOL buyout!” Some might opt for flowers, others for one of those all-purpose museum cards with something innocuous like Monet’s waterlilies on the front. AOL’s deal to buy TechCrunch, founded by blogger and serial entrepreneur Michael Arrington, was just made official this morning. But when Jason Calacanis, Arrington’s former partner in the TechCrunch 50 conference, heard rumors of the buyout last night, he found a different way of patting his friend on the back, namely a string of tweets that ripped Arrington’s credibility into tiny pieces (like confetti, only different). Business Insider collected last night’s 140 character outbursts, in which Calacanis shares his real feelings on being cut out of his half of TechCrunch 50. Some samples: “A sociopath like Mike isn’t capable of friendship-except w/ dogs,” “you’ve a had a partner you considered a good friend F@#$%k you over, laugh in your face & take food out of your kid’s mouth?” and “I’m fairly certain that mike screwed me so he wouldn’t have to split the sale of techcrunch50–but he is insane, so who knows!”
Calacanis, who hasn’t lost any steam since last night, had kinder words for Arrington’s staff, tweeting, “Despite how I feel about Mike I’m happy for the staff of @techcrunch. Mike gave them 1.5% & they don’t have to work for him anymore. :-)” :-), indeed.
Jason Calacanis Shreds Mike Arrington [Business Insider]
You’ve Got Mail, Mike Arrington: AOL Buys TechCrunch [MediaMemo]
