Maria Bartiromo Quits CNBC For Rival Fox Business Network

Maria Bartiromo is leaving CNBC after 20 years to join the Fox Business Network (FBN).

In a statement, CNBC said of the well-known Wall Street reporter that “After 20 years of groundbreaking work at CNBC, Maria Bartiromo will be leaving the company as her contract expires on November 24. Her contributions to CNBC are too numerous to list but we thank her for all of her hard work over the years and wish her the best.”

Bartiromo, who acquired the tabloid nickname “Money Honey” along the way, among other things currently hosts Closing Bell on CNBC. She was reportedly the first journalist to do daily live reports from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for the CNBC morning program Squawk Box. She was also immortalized by the late Joey Ramone in a tribute song.

Ironically, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes originally hired Bartiromo from CNN for the CNBC gig when he was in charge of CNBC. In her new surroundings, she will be reunited with her former CNN boss Lou Dobbs, who also landed at FBN.

In a statement of her own, Bartiromo said that “after twenty great years of having a front row seat to some of the most important economic stories in the world, it’s hard to sum up the gratitude and appreciation I have for the team that helped make it happen.I am incredibly proud of what we have been able to accomplish. I want to thank all the people at CNBC who have been with me on this journey, and of course the viewers and investors everywhere for making me love every minute of it.”

Bartiromo will host a new show on FBN and will also appear on the flagship Fox News Channel, as several FBN personalities already do, to comment on financial issues. Fox has yet to official confirm the Maria Bartiromo hire, however.

[image credit: World Economic Forum/E.T. Studhalter]