Chris Licht Departs CNN After a Brief and Turbulent Tenure as Chairman and CEO

Chris Licht, the embattled chief executive and chairman of CNN, has quit the company after a tumultuous one-year tenure marked by a series of significant missteps.

According to CNN, David Zaslav, the chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, told CNN employees at the start of the network’s daily editorial meeting, “I met with Chris and he will be leaving CNN.”

Later Licht said in a statement, “This was an exciting but incredibly challenging assignment and I learned a lot over the past 13 months,”. “I’ve been lucky enough to have had a successful, fulfilling career and I look forward to my next chapter. I wish the team at CNN the very best, always.”

The past year at CNN has been plagued by layoffs, declining profits, historically low ratings, the firing of two anchors, and a demoralised workforce. Licht’s leadership skills and editorial vision were constantly called into question, fueled by leaks from employees who lacked trust in him.

The final blow came in the form of a scathing 15,000-word profile published in The Atlantic, in which author Tim Alberta interviewed over 100 CNN employees, raising serious doubts about Licht’s ability to lead the organisation into the future. Despite attempting to regain trust by apologising to staff and promising to fight for their support, it became evident that Licht’s position as chief executive was untenable.

David Zaslav, the chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, who took responsibility for the recent chaos at CNN, began considering Licht’s removal after the concerns raised in The Atlantic’s article crystallised the issues with Licht’s leadership. Ultimately, Zaslav made the decision to relieve Licht of his duties earlier this week.