One day after vowing to continue to "fight like hell" to win over newsroom employees, CNN Worldwide Chairman and CEO
The news network's parent company
The 51-year-old leaves after a lengthy feature piece about him published in The
That story portrayed Licht, who was in his first year on the job, in an unflattering light. In it, the former producer of The Late Show With
Licht also has previously been critical of the channel's reporting before he officially came on board in May of last year. Licht's criticism of
On Tuesday, Licht held a virtual town hall meeting with
"I want to say that I've spent the weekend doing a lot of thinking," Licht, a former vice president at
It didn't work, according to the story, which quotes several
"Too little, too late," one told CNN reporter
"We don't want his office relocated to the 18th floor, we want it relocated out of the building," said another, after Licht on Tuesday pledged to move his executive office closer to the newsroom.
The network's top anchors and executives reportedly reached out to
"I have great respect for Chris, personally and professionally," Zaslav said in Wednesday's statement announcing Licht's immediate departure.
"The job of leading
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