Arianna Huffington to leave Huffington Post for wellness start-up Thrive Global

Arianna Huffington is leaving the Huffington Post. Photo / AP

Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington is stepping down as editor-in-chief to launch a non-profit group focused on health and wellness.

Greek-born Huffington, who launched her original American website in 2005 and sold it to internet giant AOL in 2011, said the new venture called Thrive Global aims "to change the way we work and live by ending the collective delusion that burnout is a necessary price for success."

I thought HuffPost would be my last act. But I’ve decided to step down as HuffPost’s editor-in-chief to run my new venture, Thrive Global.

— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) August 11, 2016

To everyone at HuffPost: it’s you who make HuffPost what it is. I’m filled with gratitude to all the colleagues and friends I’ve made here.

— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) August 11, 2016

Building something from scratch doesn’t get easier just because you’ve done it before. There is only 1 way to do it: w/ your full attention.

— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) August 11, 2016

She said she decided to leave the online news organisation, which now operates in 10 languages and has a user base of over 200 million, because she "couldn't do justice to both companies."

"I'm filled with excitement at the prospect of devoting the rest of my life to accelerating the culture shift away from merely surviving and succeeding to thriving," she said.

Thrive, which will launch after the US election in November, has been funded by Lerer Hippeau Ventures and other groups and individuals including NBA star Andre Iguodala and entrepreneur and philanthropist Sean Parker.

The Huffington Post was among the first major news organisations to benefit from consumer interest in online information.

Today, in addition to the US edition, the HuffPost has English language websites for British, Canadian and Australian readers, a number of French-language editions and versions in German, Japanese, Greek, Portuguese, Arabic and Korean. It has said it plans to launch in China as well.

- Additional reporting: AFP