Aha! The REAL Reason AOL's COO Is Leaving: He Disgrees With Armstrong About Patch And HuffPo

Artie Minson and Tim Armstrong

AOL COO Artie Minson is on his way out, we learned this morning.

Today, the WSJ's Keach Hagey reports why:

AOL says it is seeking to decentralize its top management.

Mr. Minson, who had been seen as one of Mr. Armstrong's most trusted lieutenants, also had differences over strategy with Mr. Armstrong, say people familiar with the matter. They say Mr. Minson disagreed with Mr. Armstrong on how the company was running the Huffington Post and its Patch network of local news sites, believing they required restructuring. However, people familiar with Mr. Armstrong's thinking say that Patch, which Mr. Armstrong co-founded, wasn't a factor in the restructuring. Mr. Minson declined to comment.

Patch costs AOL $150 million/year to run and is unprofitable.

At least when it comes to Patch, we're with #TeamArtie. We think AOL should just pull the plug on it.