Arianna Huffington has inked a four-year deal to remain at the helm of The Huffington Post following the acquisition of its AOL parent by Verizon.

She told staffers that after huddling with AOL chief Tim Armstrong and Verizon brass she's convinced that HuffPo will maintain editorial independence under new ownership and receive backing to fund the push into mobile and video.

Huffington is keeping her eye out for "smart acquisitions and strategic investments to add top talent and cutting edge technologies to her operation.

Verizon is taking over AOL via a $4.4B deal.

There has been speculation that Verizon would jettison HuffPo. The site's liberal bent, doesn't appear to mesh well with corporate-oriented Verizon, which was attracted to the deal by AOL's ad technology savvy.