Acosta is the first big name to exit CNN in the changes being implemented by CEO Mark Thompson. Thompson last week also told staff that the company intends to lay off a couple hundred employees in a pivot to digital, with a new streaming service in the works.

Jim Acosta shared during his morning broadcast on Tuesday, Jan. 28, that he would not be returning to the CNN desk after 18 years with the organization, saying that after 'careful consideration' and 'weighing alternative time slots CNN offered,