Tim Armstrong

Armstrong graduated from Connecticut College in the class of 1993, with a double major in economics and sociology. He played on the college’s men’s lacrosse team.⁠[1][2]

He began by co-founding and running a Boston newspaper, then worked in integrated sales and marketing at Starwave and Disney’s ABCABCABC (American Broadcasting Company) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It grew out of NBC’s Blue radio network, took its name after becoming independent in 1943, developed into a national television network after merging with United Paramount Theatres in 1953, was acquired by Capital Cities in 1985, and has been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1996. With CBS and NBC it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks, and it is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry/ESPN Internet Ventures. From 1998 to 2000, he was Snowball.com’s vice president of sales and strategic partnerships.⁠[3]

He joined Google in 2000 as vice president of advertising sales, became vice president of advertising and commerce in 2004, and was named president of Americas operations and senior vice president in 2007.⁠[3]

Armstrong became AOL’s chairman and CEO on April 7, 2009, moving from Google to the internet business then owned by Time Warner.⁠[3]

During his tenure, Time Warner completed AOL’s separation. The share distribution took effect late on December 9, and Time Warner announced completion on December 10, leaving AOL independent.⁠[4]

Under his leadership, AOL acquired TechCrunchTechCrunchTechCrunch is an American technology news outlet founded in 2005 by Michael Arrington and Keith Teare and headquartered in San Francisco; it mainly covers technology companies, startups, and venture capital, and hosts events such as TechCrunch Disrupt. Its ownership passed successively through AOL, Verizon, and Yahoo, and in 2025 Regent announced its acquisition.Open the full entry to expand its technology news, information and analysis business. AOL’s financial filing records September 29, 2010 as the completion date.⁠[5]

AOL agreed to acquire The Huffington Post for $315 million, with about $300 million payable in cash. Armstrong presented it as a combination of content and community businesses; the agreement designated Arianna Huffington to lead the combined Huffington Post Media Group.⁠[6]

Priceline.com appointed Armstrong to its board, effective immediately. He was then AOL’s chairman and CEO.⁠[7]

Armstrong drew criticism after citing medical costs involving two employees’ babies while explaining a change to year-end lump-sum 401(k) matching contributions. He subsequently apologized and reversed the change, restoring matching payments each pay period.⁠[8]

After Verizon completed its AOL acquisition, Armstrong continued leading AOL with expanded responsibilities. VerizonVerizonVerizon (Verizon Communications Inc.) is one of the largest telecommunications carriers in the United States, formed in 2000 through the merger of Bell Atlantic, one of the “Baby Bells,” and GTE. Headquartered in New York City, it operates a nationwide wireless network, Fios fiber broadband and communications services for businesses and government, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.Open the full entry Digital Media Services president Bob Toohey reported to him, while he reported to Verizon executive Marni Walden.⁠[9]

He and Fred WilsonFred WilsonFred Wilson is an American venture capitalist, co-founder and partner of the New York venture firm Union Square Ventures (USV), and earlier co-founder, with Jerry Colonna, of the internet investment firm Flatiron Partners. He has written the blog AVC since 2003, chaired Etsy’s board for many years, and is a director of Coinbase.Open the full entry jointly announced Tech:NYC, a nonprofit membership organization advocating for New York’s technology sector, civic engagement and access to technology. They served as co-chairs, with Julie Samuels providing day-to-day leadership.⁠[10]

Verizon completed its acquisition of Yahoo’s operating business and combined it with AOL to form Oath, led by Armstrong as CEO. He had headed integration planning since the deal was announced in July 2016.⁠[11]

The transition announced on September 12 named Guru Gowrappan as Oath’s next CEO, with Armstrong assisting the handover ahead of a planned year-end departure from Verizon. In his employee email, Armstrong said he would support the transition as a strategic adviser.⁠[12]

He founded Flowcode / the dtx company and became CEO, focusing on direct interactions between brands and consumers. Its QR platform connects physical experiences with digital content and services.⁠[13][14]

Booking HoldingsBooking HoldingsBooking Holdings Inc. is an online travel company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, whose brands include Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK and OpenTable; it is listed on Nasdaq.Open the full entry announced in its annual proxy statement that Armstrong would retire from its board at that year’s annual meeting and would not seek re-election, ending a tenure that began in 2013.⁠[13]

Connecticut College dedicated the 500-seat Fran Shields Grandstand, supported by gifts from Tim and Nancy Armstrong and the men’s lacrosse program. Armstrong and Luke Beatty had helped launch the college’s alumni athletics network in 2016.⁠[2]

Flowcode: Official website: https://www.flowcode.com/ (opens in a new window). His public professional profile is timarmstrongflowcode on LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry. His career and governance experience includes Google, AOL, Verizon, Tech:NYC and Booking Holdings.⁠[15][16][13][10]