Salon Media Chief Executive Resigns

Online magazine publisher Salon Media Group Inc. said Thursday that Chief Executive Michael O’Donnell was leaving after seven years.

The San Francisco-based company, which has been battling to survive, gave no reason for O’Donnell’s departure.

“It was sort of a mutual decision,” O’Donnell said. “It just seemed like the right time to move on.”

O’Donnell will be replaced by Salon founder David Talbot, who is also the company’s chairman and editor in chief. Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth Hambrecht will inherit O’Donnell’s title as president.

Salon has accumulated losses of $83.6 million since its inception, and its auditors have issued warnings about its financial health in each of the last two years.