Arianna Huffington

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Arianna Huffington (known in the UK mainly as Arianna Stassinopoulous) is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of ten books. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was sixteen and graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in Economics. At twenty-one she became President of the famed debating society, the Cambridge Union.

She moved to the USA and married multi-millionaire Michael Huffington (1986-1997), who was heir to a gas exploration fortune. He had been an American Republican political aide during the Reagan Administration, then later a wealthy merchant banker, and then a Californian House of Representatives state politician (1993-95). Huffington also became a financier and executive producer of documentaries, TV series and film production with Huffington Pictures (1998-on), and in 1998 he came out as a prominent bisexual LGBT activist. She had always supported and mixed with LGBT celebrities, but they divorced this year. [1]

"In 2003, Arianna ran for governor as an Independent in California's recall election against Arnold Schwarzenegger, with her ex-husband endorsing her opponent. She withdrew before the election, but her populist grassroots campaign was widely praised for putting the media spotlight on the corrupting influence of special interest money on American politics.

Her sister is Agapi Stassinopoulos. (note the different spellings of the surname - we are not sure which is correct)

Timeline

1971-1980 As Arianna Stassinopoulous, she was a part-time television personality on the British Broadcasting Commission and the live-in girlfriend of newspaper columnist Bernard Levin.


1974 Her first book, The Female Woman, on the changing roles of women, was published in 1974 by Random House and translated into eleven languages.


1978 In 1978 she published After Reason, a book on political leadership and the intersection of politics and culture.


1981 Her biography of Maria Callas: The Woman Behind the Legend, published in 1981 quickly became an international bestseller.


??? Her fourth book, The Gods of Greece, celebrated the power of myths as guides to forgotten dimensions of life and ourselves, and has been republished by Atlantic Monthly Press, with paintings by Francoise Gilot.


1986 She married Michael Huffington April 12 1986 and divorced him in 1998 when he came out as a bisexual and LBGT activist.


1988 Her biography of Pablo Picasso, Picasso: Creator and Destroyer, published in 1988, was a major international bestseller, translated into sixteen languages. The book was reissued by Avon Books to coincide with the release of a feature film based on the book, produced by Merchant-Ivory for Warner Bros. and starring Anthony Hopkins as Picasso.


1994 In 1994, she published The Fourth Instinct on the longing for meaning in a secular world.


1995 During Campaign '96, Arianna teamed up with Al Franken to provide political coverage for Comedy Central during the Republican and Democratic conventions, as well as on election night. She and Franken also appeared in a point-counterpoint segment, Strange Bedfellows, for Politically Incorrect...


1998 The year of her divorce from Michael Huffington, Her seventh book, Greetings From the Lincoln Bedroom, a book of political satire, was published in 1998 by Crown.


2000 How To Overthrow The Government, on the corruption of our political system and the need for reform, was published in 2000 by Regan Books (Harper Collins).


2003 Her New York Times bestseller, Pigs at the Trough: How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption are Undermining America, was published in 2003.


2004 Apr Fanatics and Fools: The Game Plan for Winning Back America (April 2004), offers both a scathing portrait of our contemporary political landscape and a bold, inspiring, yet practical approach to restoring America to the promise envisioned by our greatest leaders.


2005 May 9 She launched the Huffington Post which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2012. It set up local editions under the HuffPost label in Chicago (2007), followed in 2009 by New York, Denver, Los Angeles, then from 2011 by San Francisco, Detroit, Miami and Hawaii.


2011 Feb 7 The AOL (Version Media from 2016) acquired Huffington Post for US$315 million and Arianna Huffington became President and Editor-in-chief (2011-16). International editions were launched from 2011 in Canada, UK, France, Spain, Germany etc. The company as a whole was rebadged as Huffpost in 2017.[2]


2014 Jan In January 2014 it was reported that ... "Arianna Huffington and the billionaire investor Nicolas Berggruen... announced the launch of World Post, a comment and news website that looks set to become a platform for some of the most powerful people on the planet. Inevitably, the World Post will be launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this month. Many of its contributors including former British prime minister Tony Blair, Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Google’s Eric Schmidt are regulars at the annual jamboree for the world’s most connected people. Many are also advisers to the Berggruen Institute, the billionaire investor’s nonpartisan policy think tank." [3]

Board positions

"She serves on several boards that promote community solutions to social problems, including A Place Called Home that works with at-risk children in South Central Los Angeles. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Archer School for Girls, the advisory board of the Council on American Politics at George Washington University, and the board of the Reform Institute that works on campaign and election reform issues." [4]

"She serves on several boards, including EL PAÍS, PRISA, the Center for Public Integrity, and the Committee to Protect Journalists." [5]


Affiliations

Criticism

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch

References

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Huffington
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HuffPost
  3. theguardian Arianna Huffington announces launch of World Post news website, organizational web page, accessed January 9, 2014.
  4. Arianna Huffington, Americans for Fuel Efficient Cars, accessed November 23, 2010.
  5. huffingtonpost Arianna Huffington, organizational web page, accessed July 18, 2013.
  6. B Team, Virgin, accessed May 25, 2015.
  7. Berggruen Institute Board, organizational web page, accessed April 11, 2020.