Arianna Huffington Media Mogul Heads New Huff Po-AOL Editorial Group

Arianna Huffington is the woman of the media hour today, having sold the Huffington Post to AOL for $315 million over the weekend. The deal was $300 in cash, making investors and Arianna Huffington very happy.

Not a bad return for a $1 million investment in 2005, with additional investments by venture capitalists.

Huffington will take control of all of AOL’s editorial content as president and editor in chief of the newly created Huffington Post Media Group. She will oversee PopEater, TechCrunch, Moviefone and Mapquest. AOL websites like Politics Daily and Daily Finance will close, with the writers moving to Huff Po.

Huffington and AOL CEO Tim Armstrong only met recently, but it was professional love at first sight: They both attended a media conference in November and it was magical. “We were practically finishing each other’s sentences,” Huffington said. “It was really amazing how aligned our visions were.” Armstrong reportedly made the official offer to Huffington over the phone in January, while she was at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland and he was snowed in in New York. via New York Magazine

Huffington Post is expected to generate $60 million dollars in revenue this year, while AOL is losing eyeballs and money. AOL eliminated nearly a third of its staff last year.

In unrelated news, Arianna Huffington announced in late January launching Global Black, to focus on African Americans. BET co-founder Sheila Johnson, already a Huff Po senior vice president will be chief operating officer.  Huffington is also expected to open a Latino-focused website.