WSJ Magazine Style Director Makes Abrupt Exit
David Thielebeule is no longer at WSJ Magazine.
After almost eight years as style director, brought in by Kristina O’Neill when she took up the job of editor in chief in 2013, Thielebeule has made an abrupt departure at the style insert of The Wall Street Journal.
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In a posts to Instagram and LinkedIn, Thielebeule described his exit as “parting ways” and said that he’s leaving “grateful for the journey and proud of the role I played in crafting the magazine’s innovative fashion coverage.”
It does not appear that he’s heading for a new full-time job. In his posts, he added, “Any advice, words of wisdom or leads on new opportunities would be deeply appreciated.”
Before being hired by O’Neill at WSJ, Thielebeule spent two years at Conde Nast’s Allure and more than five years at Hearst’s Harper’s Bazaar, where O’Neill also previously worked.
WSJ mag, a rival to The New York Times T Magazine insert, is a big advertising vehicle for the News Corp.-owned Wall Street Journal. O’Neill’s tenure has been well received and she’s made the monthly addition to the main newspaper into a mix of high fashion, art and architecture aimed at a moneyed subscriber. High profile celebrities are a fixture of the covers, recently Kanye West in April and Nicole Kidman in May.
And the insert has continued throughout the pandemic, which has taken a serious toll on media advertising, particularly for news and lifestyle publishers. News Corp. earlier this month released its full-year results and said it expects to lose an estimated $370 million due to the “negative impacts” of the coronavirus pandemic.
Even so, it’s not thought that Thielebeule’s sudden departure was part of a move to cut costs at the publication. But it is still unclear what exactly led to his exit.
Thielebeule could not be reached for comment, nor could a representative of WSJ.
Whatever the reason, there don’t seem to be any hard feelings from the direction of O’Neill. She was one of the first to respond to his post on Instagram, with three star emojis.
