CEO Andrew Rashbass quits Reuters

Editor-in-chief Stephen Adler, who reported to Rashbass, will take over the commercial side of the operation on an interim basis from 1 May. His job title includes president of Reuters but he ruled himself out as a candidate for the job of chief executive.

Adler wrote in a note to staff: “I would like to be the first to pay tribute to his exceptional leadership skills and the commercial focus he has brought the business. I have also deeply appreciated his unwavering commitment to enabling journalists to perform as journalists, untouched by the distinct demands of the business operation with which we work in partnership.

He added: “I see our goal right now as continuing to make Reuters commercially and editorially stronger - and a better place to work. I believe that Andrew has set us on the right path toward these aims, with our business focus on growth through new products and services; our editorial drive to be faster, smarter, deeper, and more adept at social media; and our cultural push for greater diversity, stronger support for staff in hostile environments, and better peer-to-peer training and career development.

“We will, of course, remain powerfully focused on serving the needs of our news-agency, Financial & Risk, Legal and consumer customers. Along with Andrew, I also see fresh opportunities to bring our journalism and media services to clients of additional Thomson Reuters businesses as part of the company’s drive toward an enterprise model. And I look forward to pursuing such opportunities with colleagues in these businesses, as well as continuing to engage with colleagues across the organization to work smarter and faster.”

Adler said he wanted to assure the news team that, despite additional responsibilities, he would remain fully committed to editorial independence and journalistic excellence and to the safety and well-being of Reuters staff on the ground. “And we will continue to strive to be the best news organization in the world.”

Thomson Reuters CEO James Smith wrote in a separate note: "World-class journalistic excellence remains critical to our success as an organization. While the direction and values of our news operation will not change, we will continue to innovate in news gathering, delivery and customer service to meet customers’ needs in a rapidly changing news and media landscape."

Rashbass joined Reuters in July 2013 from The Economist where he was chief executive. His brief was to run Thomson Reuters' news and media business from London. Chairman David Thomson said at the time that the appointment underlined the “passionate commitment to Reuters news” of Canada’s Thomson family, majority owners of the group. 

One of his first acts was to cancel an ambitious consumer website that had struggled to meet deadlines and stay within budget. ■