Reuters CEO leaves; Adler reassures the troops

Reuters CEO Andrew Rashbass has resigned to become executive chairman of Euromoney.

Reuters editor in chief Steve Adler sent out the following message Thursday morning to the editorial staff:

Colleagues:

As you have seen in the note from Jim Smith, Andrew Rashbass will be leaving the organization at the end of the month to take up the role of Executive Chairman of Euromoney.

I would like to be the first to pay tribute to his exceptional leadership skills and the commercial focus he has brought the business. I have also deeply appreciated his unwavering commitment to enabling journalists to perform as journalists, untouched by the distinct demands of the business operation with which we work in partnership.

As Thomson Reuters starts its search for a new Chief Executive Officer of Reuters, I have been asked to lead the commercial side of the operation on an interim basis, in addition to continuing my duties as editor-in-chief. I have told Jim that I will not be a candidate for Reuters CEO and that I am looking forward to helping with the search for the right person for that role. In the meantime, working with all of you, I will do everything I can to keep moving Reuters in a positive direction – and I’m eager to hear any suggestions you may have.

I see our goal right now as continuing to make Reuters commercially and editorially stronger – and a better place to work. I believe that Andrew has set us on the right path toward these aims, with our business focus on growth through new products and services; our editorial drive to be faster, smarter, deeper, and more adept at social media; and our cultural push for greater diversity, stronger support for staff in hostile environments, and better peer-to-peer training and career development.

We will, of course, remain powerfully focused on serving the needs of our news-agency, Financial & Risk, Legal and consumer customers. Along with Andrew, I also see fresh opportunities to bring our journalism and media services to clients of additional Thomson Reuters businesses as part of the company’s drive toward an enterprise model. And I look forward to pursuing such opportunities with colleagues in these businesses, as well as continuing to engage with colleagues across the organization to work smarter and faster.

Finally, I want to assure the news team that, despite additional responsibilities, I will remain fully committed to editorial independence and journalistic excellence and to the safety and well-being of our staff on the ground. And we will continue to strive to be the best news organization in the world.

With best regards,

Steve