• by Erik Sass , July 10, 2017

It’s the end of an era at Time Inc., with the publisher’s announcement on Monday that vice chairman and former editor-in-chief Norman Pearlstine is stepping down from his position on the company’s board of directors.

The legendary editor isn’t leaving journalism altogether. Pearlstine, now 74, plans to continue working as a strategic advisor for fledgling digital publishers.

Pearlstine’s tenure at Time Inc. was just the latest chapter in a long, high-profile career.

After making a name for himself as an editor at The Wall Street Journal, where he helped launch the newspaper’s European and Asian editions, Pearlstine served as the launch editor for SmartMoney magazine, a joint publication of Dow Jones and Hearst, in 1992.

He later worked as a general partner at a media investment company, Friday Holdings, before joining Time Inc. (for the first time) as the publisher’s editor-in-chief, a position he held from 1995-2005. In this role, he oversaw editorial operations for more than 100 publications, including flagship Time, People, Sports Illustrated and Entertainment Weekly.

After a two-year stint as a senior adviser to the Carlyle Group’s media practice, Pearlstine joined Bloomberg L.P. in 2008 as Chief Content Officer, a new position for the company. He was responsible for setting a new strategic direction for the financial information company’s media division, through closer integration of its various assets and enhanced digital distribution.

Pearlstine also served as chairman of Bloomberg Businessweek, acquired from McGraw-Hill in 2009.

In October 2013, Pearlstine returned to Time Inc. in the role of EVP and Chief Content Officer. His mission was to help prepare the publisher for its spinoff from Time Warner as an independent company, which occurred in June 2014. In July 2016, he transitioned to the role of vice chairman.

Time Inc. president and CEO Rich Battista credited Pearlstine with taking a leading role in some of the major organizational changes shaking up the status quo at Time Inc. (and the industry) over the last few years. “He helped break down historical barriers so that now editors can collaborate more closely with business-side colleagues.”

After leaving Time Inc., Pearlstine will serve as an advisor for new publishers both in the U.S. and overseas, including Money.net, where he already holds the position of Chief Information Architect.

He also plans to write more about subjects spanning geopolitics, government and the media. He is the author of “Off The Record: The Press, the Government, and the War over Anonymous Sources,” a book published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2007.