Valleywag Lead Editor Nitasha Tiku Joins The Verge

She seemed committed, telling us that Valleywag was well-positioned to continue driving conversations around key issues in technology, including diversity, brogrammers, and Silicon Valley's "awkward transition from the underdog to power central."

Now, she's been poached by another technology lifestyle publication, The Verge. Tiku, who recently relocated from New York to San Francisco, will be a west coast senior editor alongside Casey Newton.

"We want The Verge to be better at covering The Valley and we could not think of someone better than Nitasha, The Verge's Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel told us. "We spent some time talking to her about the opportunity and how much more powerful her already-powerful voice could be on our huge platform."

Patel says The Verge now reaches 31 million monthly unique visitors. His goal is to expand from a trade publication, like CNET, to a lifestyle company, like GQ, or Wired.

"Most publications recognize how the products and culture of Silicon Valley have suffused mainstream life, but The Verge has been the fastest to reflect that in its coverage," Tiku says of her decision to leave Valleywag. "And as anyone in San Francisco will tell you, Casey is one of the warmest, most charming, and talented people here. I'm beyond excited to sit across from him and see what we can do."

So, what exactly does this mean for Silicon Valley's most controversial publication, Valleywag?

When reached for comment, Gawker Media's Editorial Director Joel Johnson told Business Insider that Valleywag is close to hiring Tiku's replacement. The replacement, which was given a contract yesterday to sign today, will begin at Valleywag on January 1st. Until then, Johnson says the site will "putter along" through holiday season with contributions from Montgomery and possibly former Valleywag editor Sam Biddle.

When asked if Valleywag will live on, Johnson replied: "Yes, for better or for worse!"