Ned Leeds was a field reporter for the Daily Bugle, where he met Betty Brant. Ned comforted her after her brother Bennett had been killed by Blackie Gaxton.
Betty had previously had a relationship with Daily Bugle photographer Peter Parker, but his inability to hold dates and the rough time that she was going through brought the relationship to an end. Betty then fell into the arms of Leeds. Even though he was away on an assignment in Europe for awhile (with Betty rekindling some of her emotions for Peter during this time), the two remained in contact and started dating again after his return. Eventually the two became engaged, and during this time, he was being promoted to City Editor of the Daily Bugle.
The Jackal and Marriage
The Jackal created clones of Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy and Ned was held hostage while the two Spider-Men fought each other. Soon afterwards Ned and Betty got married, with Ned choosing Peter Parker as his best man, however on their wedding day, the marriage ceremony was interrupted by the criminal Mirage who was promptly defeated by Spider-Man.
Hobgoblin
J. Jonah Jameson assigned Ned the investigation into the new villain known as the Hobgoblin. One night, Ned followed the mysterious Hobgoblin after a confrontation with Spider-Man, only to be caught and brainwashed by "Hobby" into doing criminal acts. The Winkler brainwashing process intermittently convinced Ned he actually was the Hobgoblin, leading him to act in Roderick Kingsley's place on several occasions. Kingsley used Leeds' connections to orchestrate an alliance with Richard Fisk, under the name of The Rose. Fisk, believing Leeds was the Hobgoblin and his friend, came to New York and set up a criminal operation with Hobgoblin as his partner, eventually coming to deft the Kingpin, his father.
