Why Maria Bartiromo Made The Swap From CNBC Anchor To Fox News Personality

Some may think jumping from CNBC to Fox Business Network represents a transition from the light side to the dark side of the news media, or vice versa. Regardless, Fox News host Maria Bartiromo made the switch in 2013, and her reasoning originated from several factors.

Bartiromo spent 20 years at CNBC. Her extensive tenure and lasting impact might have left several viewers thinking she'd stay with the network for the remainder of her career. However, one source told Business Insider that Bartiromo's decision to jump ship stemmed from three reasons: The ability to make more money, host her own live show, and further develop Fox Business' reputation and presence to help it compete with other news networks. Another anonymous CNBC personality noted that there simply were not many chances for growth left with the network for Bartiromo. "There just didn't seem to be a lot left here for her to do," the source told Business Insider. "She clearly wasn't on the network radar screen, so if she wanted to grow her options were limited at NBC." Thus, she fled to Fox to explore greater opportunities, albeit at the expense of some disappointed fans.

While she surprised many by making her transition from CNBC to Fox Business Network, Maria Bartiromo and her signature glasses seem to be enjoying where they are today. Just five years after she joined Fox, she said leaving her former network was for the best for her career. "I've grown tremendously in the last five years," she told Forbes in 2019. "I feel more informed today than I ever have been because I've rounded myself out; I've plugged the holes in terms of what I didn't know." Bartiromo has also posted several highlights on Instagram from her Fox News stint, from exclusively interviewing President Donald Trump in March 2025 to promoting her daily program "Mornings with Maria" in dozens of posts, including a March 2025 post shouting out a guest appearance by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Not everyone is as happy with the change as she is, however. Though some of her viewers may be delighted to see how her career has progressed, others seem less thrilled about her current gig. "I used to like her when she was at CNBC," one X, formerly known as Twitter, user wrote. "How she turned 180 degrees and became a MAGA is beyond my comprehension. I thought she was intelligent." Others reminisced about and longed for her CNBC reporting style, which they perceived as unbiased and apolitical compared to her Fox appearances.