Don't Mess With Ms. Brown, Says IAC's Michael Jackson

The Daily Beast didn't cost $18 million to launch, IAC's Michael Jackson says, disputing an estimate of Tina Brown's new online venture in a New York Times piece yesterday which also said he had "distanced" himself from the project.

Yesterday we commented on The Times' profile of Brown and Arianna
Huffington, saying that Jackson, who is head of online programming at
The Daily Beast's parent company IAC, could be hinting at future troubles by distancing himself from the project. Well, Jackson would beg to differ. In a comment sent to Wired, Jackson says:

"I’m extremely proud of The Daily Beast’s launch. In a short time, it has achieved impressive viral traffic growth and a strong editorial appeal to its audience. While I do not directly oversee the business, I have been involved with the site from its inception. It is simply incorrect to imply that I have distanced myself from Tina Brown and her team.

Regarding budget rumors, while IAC doesn’t break out budgets for individual business, a one-time $18 million start-up cost for the launch of a web site is excessive, inconsistent with IAC’s operations, and just not accurate in this case."

See also:

• Not Everyone at IAC On Board With The Daily Beast
• Daily Beast Don't Need No Stinking Advertising — For Now