Neil Cavuto, a business journalist who hosted a weekday afternoon program on the Fox News Channel since the network began in 1996, signed off for the final time on Thursday.
Mr. Cavuto, 66, also hosted two programs on Fox Business, but is best known for “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” which was in the 4-5 p.m. slot for 28 years. He did not give a reason for leaving but said he was not retiring from journalism.
“I got to do what I love here — report the news, not shout the news, not blast the news,” he said, before signing off. He said that Fox had given him a generous opportunity to stay, but he declined.
He was behind the anchor desk for 12 hours of programming each week, including “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” on weekdays and “Cavuto Live” on the weekend. Beginning Friday, those shows will drop the Cavuto name, becoming “Your World,” “Coast to Coast” and “Fox News Live,” a Fox spokesperson said Thursday night. They will have rotating hosts.
Mr. Cavuto could be an outlier on Fox News, often criticizing President Trump and his policies, and crediting the Covid-19 vaccination with saving his life.
In 2019, Mr. Cavuto said on the air: “Mr. President, we don’t work for you. I don’t work for you. My job is to cover you, not fawn over you or rip you. Just report on you — to call balls and strikes on you. My job, Mr. President — our job here — is to keep score, not settle scores.”
“You’re entitled to your point of view, Mr. President,” he continued. “But you’re not entitled to your own set of facts.”
In early 2022, Mr. Cavuto disappeared from his programs for over a month. When he returned, he told viewers that his absence was because of the coronavirus, which had sent him to an intensive-care unit. “I’d like to urge people of all sorts: Please get vaccinated,” Mr. Cavuto said at the time on another Fox News program.
Mr. Cavuto received a diagnosis of cancer in the 1980s, a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 1997, and had open-heart surgery in 2016.
“Neil Cavuto’s illustrious career has been a master class in journalism and we’re extremely proud of his incredible 28-year run with Fox News Media,” the network said in a statement. “His programs have defined business news and set the standard for the entire industry. We wish him a heartfelt farewell and all the best on his next chapter.”
Mr. Cavuto was an anchor on CNBC before joining Fox News. He was also the New York bureau chief for PBS’s “Nightly Business Report.”
“I’m not leaving journalism,” he said during his last show. “I’m just leaving here.”
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