May 20 (Reuters) – Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng will leave the media company by the end of next month to pursue new opportunities created by technological change, she said on Wednesday.
Christian Baesler, who is a senior advisor to German publisher Axel Springer, will assume the role of interim lead, according to a memo available on the company’s website.
“We’re at a moment where there’s massive change driven by technology, which also means massive opportunity. And for a techie builder like me, that’s an irresistible pull,” Peng said in the memo. “Media and journalism have faced enormous challenges during my time as CEO,” she added.
User traffic from search is declining for publishers as AI-powered responses from search engines like Google summarize content, presenting information above website links and threatening traditional business models.
The announcement of the CEO’s exit comes nearly a week after the news publisher announced a cut of under 5% of its global newsroom staff, as it realigns its editorial coverage. It had around 250 employees in the newsroom.
Business Insider had laid off around 21% and 8% of its workforce in 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Axel Springer SE acquired a majority stake in the company in 2015 and renamed it “Insider” in 2021 before reverting to “Business Insider” in November 2023 following co-founder Henry Blodget’s departure.
Axel Springer’s CEO Mathias Döpfner said Peng’s leadership has been critical during the company’s transformation.
Peng, who has been in the CEO role for more than two years, said the company made “bold bets, embraced change and built a sharper, more focused company positioned for the future of business journalism.”
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
