NerdWallet discontinues investigation team, cuts four positions

Personal finance site NerdWallet is disbanding its four-person investigative team, and those four people will be leaving the company.

Their last day is Feb. 1. NerdWallet had created the investigative team in 2016, hiring a Pulitzer Prize winner, among others.

NerdWallet said it plans to make greater investments in other areas of its business.

“Content remains a critical part of NerdWallet’s strategy,” said Maggie Leung, vice president of content, in an email to Talking Biz News. “We’re adding jobs in core personal finance coverage so we can better serve our users’ needs.

“This decision is about strategic priorities, rather than the value of investigative journalism,” added Leung. “These four guys have shined as journalists and colleagues. We’ll be doing our best to support their transition and we hope to maintain our strong relationships with them.”

Leung said that NerdWallet deliberated about delivering this news now or after the holidays., and decided to alert them now because there are investigative journalism jobs open now that they could pursue.

“We didn’t want to let weeks go by that might cost them good opportunities — IJ roles are specialized and rare, as journalists know,” she said.