Longread

Inside the NYT CEO's Exit

Story investigates Janet Robinson's departure.

Romance, the firing of a CEO, and a news site’s paywall. It sounds like the plot of a Bravo television show, but it’s really the story of the firing of former New York Times CEO Janet Robinson in December—with an exit package of $24 million, or half the company’s profits in 2011. New York Magazine investigates the classic “whodunit” by rounding up a few suspects: publisher Arthur Sulzberger’s new girlfriend, the print journalism advertising market, a cousin, and an Internet expert. Meanwhile, the New York Times is looking for a new CEO—and battling with the question of how much power the new hire will wield while the Sulzberger family is at the head of the paper of record.