Nicholas Thompson is leaving his position as editor-in-chief at Wired to become the CEO of The Atlantic. Thompson announced the news on Twitter on Thursday, saying he'd "read and been inspired by The Atlantic my whole life." It's somewhat rare for an editor to move to managing a publication's business operations, though The Atlantic's ownership team and editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg heaped praise on Thompson. "Nick is one of the great innovators in journalism," Goldberg said.
More:
- Thompson will leave Condé Nast-owned Wired for The Atlantic in February.
- Thompson said he's proud of helping Condé Nast launch (mostly) successful paywalls at Wired and The New Yorker. He argued that a subscription model forces a publication to consistently generate high-quality content, to provide "stuff your readers love — not just stuff they click."
- Thompson says he does not plan to immediately report or write for The Atlantic, and suggested a line would be drawn between the outlet's journalism and business operations.
- The Atlantic instituted its own paywall in 2019, though much of its highly-praised coronavirus coverage has been free to all readers.
