Luke Beatty departs AOL

AOL’s president of media brands Luke Beatty is stepping down from his position today to spend more time with family.

Beatty ran AOL’s tech blogs — including TechCrunch and Engadget — as well as several other online media properties for the company. He came to AOL from TechStars after serving as Yahoo’s vice president and general manager. Beatty also founded Associated Content (which Yahoo acquired).

We should note Verizon, AOL’s parent company, is currently in negotiations for a Yahoo acquisition and there are likely many moving parts with this position in the future.

But now it seems Beatty, who’s been with AOL for more than three years, is ready for a break.

AOL tells us Jared Grusd will be stepping up in Beatty’s absence to oversee iBrands, in addition to the Huffington Post.

“Luke Beatty has been a champion for iBrands and AOL for the last three years. We owe him a huge thank you for his passion and leadership. He will be missed,” a company spokesperson told TechCrunch.

While it’s not clear how the change affects TechCrunch (if at all) our editor-in-chief (aka my boss) Matthew Panzarino also gave his condolences, “Luke was a great partner and friend, and I wish both he and the fish he is about to terrorize all the best. Whoever lands at his desk has big shoes to fill.”