Steven Bartlett Loses 4 Podcast Staff as Empire Expands

Steven Bartlett, host of the top-ranked business podcast "The Diary of a CEO," has lost four core employees over the past five months. The departures include Jack Sylvester, who described himself as the show's cofounder and helped build its YouTube presence to more than 18 million subscribers.

A FlightStory spokesperson said the departures were planned over almost a year with Bartlett's support. The people involved joined early in their careers, advanced to senior roles, and left on good terms. "We see their next steps as a positive reflection of the culture," she said.

All four departing staffers posted on social media that the decision was theirs, that they had no specific plan for what comes next, and that they were grateful for their time at FlightStory. Sylvester wrote on LinkedIn: "I owe Steve more than I could ever put into words." He added that he didn't "know what's next" but was "more fired up than ever." He told Business Insider he was searching for the next step after the show moved out of its initial growth phase.

One former FlightStory employee, speaking of Sylvester and another departing staffer, described them as part of the "inner circle" responsible for the "heavy lifting" of the podcast. "They're the reason it gets delivered twice a week," another former employee said of the four.