- Quartz co-founder and editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney is stepping down and the company revealed additional management changes
Kevin Delaney, a co-founder and the editor-in-chief at Quartz, announced a decision to shift over to an adviser role at the end of the month. This change is part of a broader management shuffle at the company. Quartz co-founder Zach Seward was named as chief executive officer at the company.
Delaney had shared the editor-in-chief role with publisher Jay Lauf. And Lauf was named chairman of the company. Katie Bantz Weber was promoted to president of Quartz and she was previously chief commercial officer of the company. Now Quartz is looking for a new editor-in-chief.
“Kevin, Jay, and Zach are truly inspiring founders and colleagues, and my gratitude for them and what they’ve built is infinite,” said Yusuke Umeda, the CEO of Uzabase. “I admired them from afar for years, and it has been an absolute privilege to experience their leadership, creativity, and enthusiasm over this past year. I am particularly excited for the next chapter and to work with Zach and Katie to aggressively build on this momentum, to the benefit of readers, partners and members.”
Seward was Quartz’s second employee and was the architect of the company’s award-winning product innovation. And he led the introduction of Quartz membership. Before Quartz, Seward worked at The Wall Street Journal where he reported on education and health followed by becoming the newspaper’s first social media editor. And before that, he was an assistant editor at Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab.
“I love Quartz and believe strongly that our distinctive approach to business journalism — global in its worldview and focused on the future — is more important today than ever. We are also a special company, filled with kind, creative, and incredibly talented people, and I feel incredibly privileged to be leading us,” added Seward.
Weber had joined Quartz in 2014. As president, Weber will continue overseeing ad sales and creative partnerships. Plus she will assume responsibility for the company’s membership business. A couple of years ago, Weber had oversaw the launch of Quartz Partnerships. And before Quartz, Weber led strategic and creative initiatives at Condé Nast.
“No company embodies and embraces creativity and innovation more than Quartz, and I’m honored to work with the best teams in the business to continue challenging the status quo,” explained Weber.
Lauf pointed out that he was excited to take on the role and will focus on advertising and client partnerships along with advising on 2020 planning.
“I’m excited about this new chapter for Quartz. Zach is employee #2 and the architect of so much of the innovation Quartz is known for — he’s the perfect choice for CEO. Katie is a singular talent in this industry, highly respected by our clients and staff,” commented Lauf.
Delaney plans to turn to other projects. However, he did not reveal what those projects are yet.
“Nearly eight years ago I joined Atlantic Media to lead the effort to create a new global business news organization. I’m really proud of how Quartz has helped to fundamentally redefine the media industry’s approach to journalism, product, and advertising — and connected with tens of millions of readers around the world along the way. Quartz now has an excellent home in Uzabase, and our work on the transition over the past year, and the handoff to Zach and Katie, reinforce my confidence in its future,” Delaney stated.
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