CMP Media, the Long Island, N.Y.-based trade magazine and online publisher, said Monday that chief executive officer Gary Marshall resigned to “pursue other interests.” A spokeswoman declined to elaborate on the abrupt departure, saying, “I have no more information than what’s in the press release.” Marshall wasn’t available Monday night for comment.
Marshall had run the company since its 1999 acquisition by the former Miller Freeman, a division of British media conglomerate United Business Media.
There were some signs of difficulty at CMP earlier this year.
During a conference call with analysts in July, United Business Media’s Nigel Wilson, chief financial officer, noted “despite cost reductions, a decline in revenue and investment in new products, profits (at CMP Media) decreased 12.9 million pounds,” in the first half. “The key challenge for Gary (Marshall) and his team is that the events exhibition and online business have to grow faster than the revenue decline we’re seeing in print, and we’re reasonably confident that we should be able to achieve that” in the second half.
In Marshall’s place, UBM appointed Steve Weitzner as CEO. Weitzner, who had been chief operating officer since 2002, reports to David Levin, CEO of UBM. Through a spokeswoman, he declined to be interviewed.
Weitzner has been with CMP since 1984, having served as an editor, publisher, executive vice president, and group president in the company’s electronics group. Before joining CMP, he worked at Hearst Business Communications.
