NYT biz reporter Berenson leaving, but not via buyout

New York Times business reporter Alex Berenson confirmes to the NYTPicker that he is leaving the paper, but he is not one of the journalists who has accepted the paper’s buyout offer.

NYTPicker reports, “‘I am working on a fairly solid story that I expect will run in January,’ Berenson told The NYTPicker. ‘After that I will be leaving.’

“Berenson has been a NYT reporter for a decade, mostly on the business desk except for a five-month tour of duty in Iraq during 2003 and 2004. That experience led Berenson (who now covers the pharmaceutical industry) into a second career, writing spy novels around a fictional CIA agent/hero named John Wells.

“‘My choice to leave has nothing to do with any concerns about the future of the Times, which I think is bright,’ Berenson said. ‘But since 2006, I have had three novels published, with a fourth on the way….I am under contract for two more, which will be released in 2011 and 2012.’ His first novel, ‘The Faithful Spy,’ won an Edgar Award for best mystery novel.”

Read more here.