Fred Santarpia, chief digital officer of Condé Nast, is leaving after leading the company’s expansion in digital entertainment and content over the last four years.
Santarpia, whose last day at Condé Nast is Nov. 2, announced his departure Tuesday in an Instagram post. He didn’t say what he plans to do next; the company has not named a replacement for him.
“Unfortunately, there’s never a good time to say goodbye, but with the company’s digital foundation set, this is the right time for me to say farewell,” the exec wrote.
While at Condé Nast, Santarpia led the acquisitions of Pitchfork and Citizen Net, and oversaw the company’s launch of its Spire data business as well as the global rollout of the Copilot proprietary content management system.
Santarpia’s exit comes after Dawn Ostroff, president of Condé Nast Entertainment, left to join Spotify as chief content officer in July. Condé Nast named Sahar Elhabashi, COO of the video entertainment division, as interim head.
Other recent high-profile departures from Condé Nast include Teen Vogue chief content officer Phillip Picardi, who left this summer to become editor-in-chief of Out; and GQ EIC Jim Nelson, who exited last month and was replaced by Will Welch.
Commenting on Santarpia’s departure, Condé Nast CEO Robert Sauerberg said in a memo to staff Tuesday: “Fred has been a great digital leader shepherding our nascent business through the continued development and iteration of Copilot and Spire and laying the cultural foundation from which we evolved.”
Prior to joining Condé Nast, Santarpia was GM of Vevo, the music-video venture backed by Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Google. Santarpia also held senior-level positions at UMG and consulting firm Arthur Andersen.
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