Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express Group, has announced that he is stepping down from his leadership role of the corporate side of the media group. While he did not officially have the title of the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Gupta had the combined role of the being the group’s editorial and managerial chief.
In an email to employees late on Monday evening, Mr. Gupta wrote that his “job on the corporate side” was now done. He said he had taken over in an “unusual set of circumstances”, but the “sense of imminent crisis” no longer existed. The company, he noted, was in an “unprecedentedly robust shape” with “six stellar quarters”, and heading for an “even better seventh”.
Mr. Gupta wrote that this was the “perfect time” for him to hand over the “flourishing company” back to Viveck Goenka, the Chairman and Managing Director of the Group, “now that he has the time to take over the management”. The new arrangement would commence on August 28. Mr. Goenka would be assisted by a new CEO, George Varghese.
The editorial leadership would, however, remain with Mr. Gupta. He said all the editorial teams (except Loksatta), brand innovation, archive and CSR teams would work with him.
He would also devote more time to EXIMS, the Group’s media school.
There has been speculation in media circles in the past few weeks about the return of the Express management to the Goenka family. Viveck Goenka’s son, Anant, took over as the head and director of the New Media of the Group last year.
