• by Joe Mandese , February 17, 2011

Jack Griffin is out as chairman-CEO of Time Inc., just six months after joining the Time Warner publishing division from president of Meredith Corp.'s national media group. In a staff memo, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said Griffin was leaving because "his leadership style and approach did not mesh with Time Inc. and Time Warner."

Bewkes indicated that a permanent successor would eventually be named, and said that an interim management committee composed of a trio of Time Inc. executives -- CFO Howard Averill, General Counsel Maurice Edelson and Editor in Chief John Huey -- would run the organization in the meantime, reporting directly to Bewkes.

Griffin joined Time Inc. as CEO in August 2010, succeeding long-time Time Inc. executive Anne Moore, who retired.

Griffin's brash management style reportedly ruffled feathers inside Time Inc.'s genteel publishing culture, adding to what had already been a stressful environment for the world's leading magazine publishers.

Among Griffin's first acts as CEO was to create Time Inc.'s first ever Chief Digital Officer position, and naming former Interactive Advertising Bureau President-CEO Randall Rothenberg to the post.