Waldman, who joined the Guardian part-time in 1996, announced the news on his personal blog. He will start at LOVEFiLM as group product director on 17 May and will not be replaced by GMG, a spokesman for the group told Journalism.co.uk.
"I'm obviously sad to be leaving the Guardian and GMG - but I have had a very, very good innings, and the team there is probably better than it has ever been. The site continues to fizz with innovation and creativity. Long may that last," says Waldman in the blog post.
Commenting on Waldman's move, outgoing GMG CEO Carolyn McCall, who announced her departure from the group in March, told staff in an internal email: "Simon has been an integral part of our digital success since the mid-nineties, when he joined the Guardian to work on its first web projects. He was the launch editor of Guardian Unlimited in 1999 and, as one of a small team, laid the foundations for its enormous, sustained success over the
last decade."
A former chairman of the Association of Online Publishers (AOP), Waldman is the second senior digital figure to leave the Guardian in the past month: director of digital content Emily Bell announced her departure to become the inaugural director of the University of Columbia's Tow Center for Digital Journalism.
At the end of March digital research editor and former blogs editor at the Guardian, Kevin Anderson, left the Guardian as part of a voluntary redundancy scheme.
Free daily newsletter
If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).
