The editor in chief doesn't need to be the center of attention, I agree. BUT in TechCrunch's case he was. Mike had a swagger about him and how he wrote - which I think helped define how the others wrote. I think that's a big part of what made TC what TC is. So in this case, I think it does matter. Can Erick change how the ship is run and still be successful? Sure, but it's going to be hard.
BTW, I wasn't clear in my original post. My post was in reference to how both articles were written, not about the content. Swagger vs no swagger.