by: adage.com

Rona Fairhead will step down as head of Pearson's Financial Times unit and and leave the company's board in April next year, the company said today, in a move that will further fan speculation that Pearson may sell the newspaper.

The London-based company didn't give a reason for Ms. Fairhead's departure in an e-mailed statement apart from saying that the executive is "ready to tackle a new set of challenges."