Fortune CEO Murray is stepping down

Alan Murray

Alan Murray, the chief executive officer of Fortune and its former editor in chief, is stepping down in six months.

Murray has been CEO since December 2018 after the magazine was sold. A formal announcement is expected later Wednesday.

He oversees the business and editorial operations of the independent media company and expanded its digital and conference franchises. Murray also writes a closely-read daily newsletter for Fortune, CEO Daily.

Under his leadership, Fortune.com grew its pageviews by 90 percent in 2022. He also hired Alyson Shontell to be editor in chief in 2021. She’s the first female editor of the 93-year-old magazine.

Fortune launched a paywall in 2020, and it has also redesigned its website and print publication. Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon bought Fortune magazine from Meredith Corp. for $150 million in 2018.

Prior to joining Fortune in August 2014, Murray led the rapid expansion of the Pew Research Center’s digital footprint as president of that organization. Before that, Murray was at The Wall Street Journal for many years, serving as deputy managing editor, executive editor online, Washington bureau chief, and author of the Political Capital and Business columns.

He served for several years as Washington bureau chief for CNBC, and cohost of the nightly show “Capital Report.”

He is the author of multiple books, including “Showdown at Gucci Gulch: Lawmakers, Lobbyists, and the Unlikely Triumph of Tax Reform.”

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.