NY Times biz desk says goodbye to the “Watchdog of Wall Street”

New York Times business editor Ellen Pollock sent out the following announcement on Sunday:

To Biz Day–

I’m sorry to report that Gretchen Morgenson is leaving Biz Day. She’ll be joining the Wall Street Journal where I know she’ll continue to do her very fine work.

Gretchen joined The New York Times in 1998 and has been an inspiration to her colleagues ever since. She uncovered conflicts of interests and violations of shareholders’ rights. She helped readers understand what was going on at Fannie Mae and on Wall Street. And as her recent columns show, she had the backs of Wells Fargo borrowers and college professors relying on TIAA for their retirement planning.

In an interview some years ago, Gretchen said, “I don’t want to be inside the tent. I want my nose pressed up against the glass doing my job.” In every way her work lives up to the name of her column: Fair Game.

Larry Ingrassia points out that there aren’t many journalists recognized by only their first name: “But when you say ‘Gretchen,’ everyone knows who that is. Gretchen helped define financial journalism. Her knowledge of the ways of Wall Street is vast, so when the financial crisis hit, she was at the vanguard. Bravo for an incredible run, Gretchen.”

And then there’s this from Dean Murphy:  “Tom Redburn once said, there is the Wolf of Wall Street — and then there’s Gretchen, the Watchdog of Wall Street. She has earned a singular place in financial journalism for holding private equity owners, captains of the hedge fund industry, corporate executives and Wall Street tycoons to account.”

We’ll all miss Gretchen, and her departure is a loss for our readers as well. She’ll be around for about another week, so we’ll have a chance to say our good byes and wish her well.

Ellen