Huffington Post's New Ad-Sales Chief Gone After Just Three Months

Huffington Post sales head Moritz Loew is out after just three months on the job, Ad Age has learned. Mr. Loew confirmed in a telephone call that he is no longer with the company and that it was not his decision to leave. He also confirmed that his dismissal centered around a background check turning up an old, outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court related to a 2003 DWI charge when he lived in Seattle that he says he has since dealt with. "I did not know about [the outstanding warrant] … but it was a stupid mistake," he said. An AOL spokeswoman said in an emailed statement: "Recent information has indicated that Moritz's hiring did not meet AOL requirements." Mr. Loew previously held senior digital sales roles at NBC News Digital and MSNBC. In May, Mr. Loew tweeted out an Ad Age article that mentioned both the hiring of Janet Balis as Huffington Post's first publisher as well as his new job. His tweet read in part: "[N]ice to be part of the dream team." He reported directly to Arianna Huffington. The hiring of Ms. Balis and Mr. Loew at the Huffington Post came as part of a restructuring at AOL resulting in the company's various content brands, including the Huffington Post, being run more like independent businesses. But Mr. Loew's departure now means that two of Ms. Huffington's top three new reports are no longer with the company. Lauren Kapp, who was hired in the spring to run PR for the Huffington Post, left the company a few weeks ago after only a few months on the job. Ms. Kapp may return to NBC, where she had worked for more than a decade before taking the Huffington Post job, according to people familiar with the matter. She could not be reached for comment.

Huffington Post's New Ad-Sales Chief Gone After Just Three Months

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