Veteran anchor and journalist Brian Williams, who remade his career as an MSNBC host after losing his job as an NBC Nightly News anchor for making false claims about a wartime story, is leaving the network after 28 years.
In a note to colleagues, Williams said that, “following much reflection”, he had decided to exit when his contract is up in December.
“This is the end of a chapter and the beginning of another,” Williams wrote. “There are many things I want to do and I’ll pop up again somewhere.”
Williams's time at NBC has spanned 28 years in 38 countries, covering eight Olympic Games, seven US presidential elections, six presidents, “a few wars and one Saturday Night Live”, referring to his appearance on a popular US comedy show.
“Good friends were in great supply at NBC,” his note said.
“I was fortunate that everyone I worked with made me better at my job.
“I was on the air for the launch of MSNBC. My return years later was my choice, as was launching The 11th Hour that I'm as proud of as the decade I spent anchoring Nightly News.”
MSNBC President Rashida Jones said Williams's time at NBC has been marked by breaking countless major stories and attracting leading journalists and guests to his programmes.
He was NBC's top anchor from 2004-2015 until he was suspended by the network for six months for falsely claiming that he had been in a helicopter hit by enemy fire during the Iraq War.
A subsequent investigation found that he had made other inaccurate statements about his experiences covering events and he lost the job.
Williams was later given the 11pm slot on MSNBC.
Agencies contributed to this report
