Forbes.com CEO stepping down

Jeff Bercovici of DailyFinance.com reports that James Spanfeller, the CEO of Forbes.com, is stepping down.

Bercovici writes, “Spanfeller did not respond to messages, but his departure is thought by insiders to be a result of pressure by Elevation Partners, the private equity group that bought a large minority stake in Forbes three years ago. In May of this year, Elevation co-founder Roger McNamee resigned from the Forbes board and was replaced by Bret Pearlman, another Elevation Partners executive whose arrival was seen to herald a round of cost-cutting. Since then, rumors have circulated that Spanfeller’s days were numbered, even though he is said to be favored by president/COO Tim Forbes.

“‘I would not be surprised if his replacement is someone from outside,’ says one source.

“It also can’t be good for Spanfeller that traffic to Forbes.com has been waning in recent months, with WSJ.com all but catching up to it in unique viewers according to the latest tally from Compete.com.”