Vanity Fair editor in chief Radhika Jones announced Thursday that she is leaving Condé Nast after a 7-year run helming the culture and celebrity-focused monthly magazine.
Jones, who took the reins after editor Graydon Carter retired in 2017 ending a 25-year run, told staffers in a 12:30 pm meeting at Vanity Fair’s offices at One World Trade Center in New York that she will depart in the spring.
“It was a difficult decision, because it has been a tremendous privilege to lead this team. Our work has been a beacon,” Jones said in a company-wide memo obtained by The Post. .
A source close to the situation said Jones has been thinking about leaving Conde Nast, home to Vogue, The New Yorker and Wired, for a while.
Condé Nast artistic director and editor in chief of Vogue, Anna Wintour attended the meeting and was said to be “tearful” as Jones gave her farewell, stunning some staffers over the rare show of emotion.
Jones is rumored to have been making seven figures — a sizeable salary at a time when big salaries, black cars and clothing allowances are a thing of the past.
“The days of the big salaries at Condé are over – she was on seven figures – and she didn’t make anywhere close to what Graydon made! But whoever comes in next almost certainly wont be making what she made!,” the person said.
A new editor will be named at a later time.
A source with knowledge said the next editor will likely be more junior and have a slimmer salary.
A rep for Condé Nast declined to comment.
squeezed by declines in advertising and readership. Vanity Fair
Jones departs the company at a particularly difficult time for magazines, which have been squeezed by declines in advertising and readership.
She regaled the staff over its accomplishments and reminisced over her time as editor.
“At the end of every year, I look over the memo I wrote back in 2017 when I was interviewing to be the editor of Vanity Fair, as a way to remember the goals I had and check my progress. Last year, somewhat to my surprise, I realized that — with your help — I had accomplished virtually all of those goals,” she said.
Wintour added in her own memo: “Earlier this week, Radhika was describing to me her deep pride at her commission of Amy Sherald’s painting of Breonna Taylor for the September 2020 cover of Vanity Fair, and what a defining cultural moment that had been. And that is exactly what I believe a great editor does – she defines the times.”