Dobbs leaves CNN; Fox Biz says it has had no discussions with anchor

Lou Dobbs, who was an original anchor at CNN when it launched nearly three decades ago and was its main business anchor for decades, announced Wednesday evening that he’s leaving the network.

A spokeswoman for Fox News and Fox Business Network, which has been rumored to covet Dobbs, told Talking Biz News that “We have not had any discussions with Lou Dobbs for Fox News or Fox Business.”

In a story on the CNN site, it states that, “Dobbs, 64, said he discussed the issue with CNN President Jonathan Klein, who agreed to release him from his contract. The move ‘will enable me to pursue new opportunities,’ said Dobbs.

“Dobbs, who is the last of the 29-year-old network’s original anchors, said he is considering ‘a number of options and directions.'”

In 1980, Cable News Network began airing a show called “Moneyline” that featured host Dobbs. who was the network’s chief economics correspondent. The show regularly featured corporate executives, economists and Wall Street investors. The show was later expanded into an hour-long broadcast, and Dobbs was the main voice covering major business news stories in the 1980s such as the 1987 crash and the savings and loan crisis.

Dobbs also helped found CNNfn, the network’s financial news channel that was later closed in 2004.

He left the network in 1999, and at that time, CNBC expanded its competing show “Business Center” and signed Maria Bartiromo to a five-year contract.

Dobbs returned to CNN in 2001, although his objectivity was questioned because of his comments about companies sending employees overseas and his defense of accounting firm Arthur Andersen. In recent years, Dobbs show has had little to do with business news. “Moneyline” was renamed “Lou Dobbs Tonight” in 2003.