Francisco was permitted to remain at MarketWatch as long as she did not write about Vator.tv, any of its clients, or any companies with ties to Peter Thiel of PayPal, one of Vator.tv’s backers. However, since her involvement with Vator began, she wrote several articles about companies with Vator and/or Thiel ties, including PowerSet and Facebook.

"Dow Jones demands the highest journalism standards at our own publications and services, as reflected by our strict code of conduct," said L. Gordon Crovitz, executive vice president of Dow Jones in a statement accepting the resignation.

In her final MarketWatch column, Francisco announced her resignation and gave her understanding of the agreement.

"Vator.tv began as a little garage project that I started last year to help me vet startups' pitches and to give exposure to those I'd invariably overlook as a columnist,” she wrote. “I mentioned the idea to Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal…(he) saw value in such a vetting mechanism, and he asked if he could invest. I told Peter that it was just an experiment at the time. But if the platform reached 50 videos, then perhaps it was worth investing in. Peter currently owns less than 5%.”

In earlier interviews, however, Francisco said that she received a stake in the company from Thiel without investing any of her own money.

Francisco wrote that MarketWatch’s editor-in-chief, David Callaway allowed her to stay unless she arrived at a point of conflict of interest.

Sources: Cnet News.com and MarketWatch