BusinessWeek announced Thursday that executive editor John A. Byrne has been named executive editor/editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek.com, the influential and award-winning website.
In his new role, Byrne will be responsible for the editorial operations of BusinessWeek.com and will guide the further integration and collaboration between the print and online editorial staffs.
BusinessWeek.com averaged more than 6.7 million unique users per month in the first quarter of 2007, a 22 percent increase from the first quarter 2006.Â
As executive editor of BusinessWeek, Byrne has served as the day-to-day leader of the most widely read business magazine. His replacement will be named shortly.  Byrne succeeds Kathy Rebello, who has left to pursue other opportunities. He will continue to report to BusinessWeek editor in chief Stephen Adler.
“John has done an extraordinary job of energizing and improving the magazine over the last two years,” Adler said. “He was deeply involved in developing our online presence in the mid-1990s. And in the past two months, during a temporary stint at our website, he’s added a daily executive summary, a new podcast of the week’s top business news, three new blogs, and narrated slideshows. BusinessWeek.com is an essential part of our future and our franchise, and no one is more qualified than John to run it.”Â
Byrne rejoined in August 2005, after serving as editor-in-chief of Fast Company magazine. Prior to joining Fast Company, he worked for BusinessWeek for nearly 18 years, most recently holding the position of senior writer and writing a record 57 cover stories for the magazine.
In 1991, Byrne was named a National Magazine Award finalist for his BusinessWeek cover story, “Are CEOs Paid Too Much?” Several of his stories have been finalists for the prestigious Loeb Award and have been published in collections of the Best Business Stories of the Year.Â
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So let me see if I understand it correctly. Mr. Byrne here did such a spectacular job running the day-to-day operations of Business Week magazine, with its 900,000+ readers, that he has now been "promoted" to run the website?
Quite a promotion!
Next promotion and he runs the mail room.
Promotion after that and he runs the snack bar.
Sam Tambo, shouldn't you be pursuing those "other opportunities" instead of wasting time posting snarky comments?
Sam Tampo -
You got that one right. Byrne is a third rate hack. Everyone knows that. He goes from one mediocre position to the next - Business Week to Fast Company to Business Week. Yawn. Double yawn.
Hortense - Are you the wife?
The tragedy of this is the lesson other BusinessWeek staffers will draw from the fate of Kathy Rebello, who tried to move the magazine/Web site into the 21st century and was martyred by the Old Guard. And it worked, too! Kathy tripled clicks, pushed revenues through the roof, and integrated the Web site with the magazine. Yes, egos were bruised, but you can't make an omlet without breakings eggs.
Personally, I'm going to enjoy watching John Byrne attempt to dismantle the progress that was made. Fat chance! Kathy's vision was the right one and she cemented it in place with personal bonds and absolute loyalty. Yes, she has suffered, but Byrne will suffer more. I promise you.