NEW YORK – October 7, 2019 — Quartz announced today a transition in leadership with the appointment of Zach Seward as chief executive officer. Seward is one of the company’s co-founders and has served as chief product officer and executive editor of Quartz for the past two years. Additionally, Katie Weber has been promoted to president of Quartz. She has been at Quartz since 2014 and served as chief commercial officer for the past year.
The leadership changes are effective today. Jay Lauf is now the chairman of Quartz. Kevin Delaney is stepping down later this month, but will continue as an advisor to Quartz. Delaney and Lauf had run the company as co-CEO and editor-in-chief and co-CEO and publisher, respectively, since its founding in 2012.
Delaney, Lauf, and Seward co-founded Quartz in 2012, building a successful and groundbreaking media business focused on distinctive coverage of the new global economy, supported by creative solutions for marketers and a new membership program. A truly global company, Quartz employees are now located around the world, while nearly half of its audience lives outside the US. According to recently released data from Ipsos, for a global business audience, Quartz ranks number one for 25–44 year old business decision-makers and number one for c-level executives aged 25–44. Quartz was acquired by Uzabase in 2018.
“Kevin, Jay, and Zach are truly inspiring founders and colleagues, and my gratitude for them and what they’ve built is infinite,” said Yusuke Umeda, CEO of Uzabase. “I admired them from afar for years, and it has been an absolute privilege to experience their leadership, creativity, and enthusiasm over this past year. I am particularly excited for the next chapter and to work with Zach and Katie to aggressively build on this momentum, to the benefit of readers, partners and members.”
Seward said, “I love Quartz and believe strongly that our distinctive approach to business journalism — global in its worldview and focused on the future — is more important today than ever. We are also a special company, filled with kind, creative, and incredibly talented people, and I feel incredibly privileged to be leading us.”
Weber said, “No company embodies and embraces creativity and innovation more than Quartz, and I’m honored to work with the best teams in the business to continue challenging the status quo.”
Lauf said, “I’m excited about this new chapter for Quartz. Zach is employee #2 and the architect of so much of the innovation Quartz is known for — he’s the perfect choice for CEO. Katie is a singular talent in this industry, highly respected by our clients and staff.”
Delaney said, “Nearly eight years ago I joined Atlantic Media to lead the effort to create a new global business news organization. I’m really proud of how Quartz has helped to fundamentally redefine the media industry’s approach to journalism, product, and advertising — and connected with tens of millions of readers around the world along the way. Quartz now has an excellent home in Uzabase, and our work on the transition over the past year, and the handoff to Zach and Katie, reinforce my confidence in its future.”
The company will conduct a search for a new editor in chief and a chief product officer.