Byrne Leaving BusinessWeek to Start Digital Media Company

John A. Byrne, for years one of BusinessWeek’s most prolific writers and later one its most admired editors, is leaving the magazine to launch his own digital media company.

Byrne, 56, an executive editor and editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek.com, said he will officially step down when the sale of the magazine to Bloomberg is completed, as expected, on Dec. 1. (see Byrne’s full memo to staff below). In two separate stints, Byrne spent 22 years at the magazine. In between, he served as editor-in-chief of Fast Company magazine from 2003 to 2005.

He will be re-locating to the San Francisco area. Byrne was recently married to Kate Rodler, who resides in Marin County. Byrne did not elaborate on what kind of media company he was interested in launching, or whether he had any financial backers.

During his tenure as a writer at BusinessWeek, Byrne penned a record 58 cover stories while also authoring eight books. His last book was a collaboration with GE Chairman Jack Welch, Jack: Straight From The Gut. Former BusinessWeek Editor-in-Chief Steve Shepard once jokingly referred to Byrne as Johann Sebastian Byrne because of the substantive body of work he created while at the magazine. Byrne also earned a reputation as a patient mentor over the years to lots of young BusinessWeek staffers.

Byrne was instrumental in launching BusinessWeek’s Best Business Schools rankings, and as executive editor, he and his team created three additional annual franchises, including the highly successful Customer Service Champions and the Best Places to Launch a Career. In addition, Byrne recruited to the magazine such weekly columnists as Jack and Suzy Welch, Maria Bartiromo, and renowned wine critic Robert Parker.

Under his leadership of BusinessWeek’s web operations, which he assumed in 2007, traffic and user engagement, with monthly unique visitors has risen by 40% to 10.4 million (more than twice the size of the magazine’s audience). Under his leadership, BW.com has won two consecutive National Magazine Awards. What’s more, Byrne was inducted last year by Media Industry News into the Digital Hall of Fame and this year min named him one of 21 “Superstars of Social Media.” Byrne has nearly 18,000 followers on Twitter, under the handle JOHNABYRNE.

“John brought his prodigious energy, credibility, and creativity to BusinessWeek.com after a stellar, award-winning career in print and truly outdid himself,” says Stephen J. Adler, editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek who will be leaving the magazine as well on Dec. 1. “He leaves as one of the most exciting innovators in the entire digital world, and I’m eagerly awaiting his next venture.”

Not to be overlooked is Byrne’s tireless support of the BusinessWeek softball team, which has appeared in all three championship games of the New York Media Softball League, which was formed in 2007. BW captured the crown in 2008 after a record-breaking undefeated streak.

Read more at BusinessWeek Media Blog