The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald has announced that he will be leaving the publication for a “once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity.”

Greenwald, as you probably know, broke the whole NSA surveillance story wide open when he published leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. His work led to the current conversation over the United States’ secret domestic spying initiative.

Here’s what Greenwald had to say about his departure in a statement:

“My partnership with the Guardian has been extremely fruitful and fulfilling: I have high regard for the editors and journalists with whom I worked and am incredibly proud of what we achieved. The decision to leave was not an easy one, but I was presented with a once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity that no journalist could possibly decline. Because this news leaked before we were prepared to announce it, I’m not yet able to provide any details of this momentous new venture, but it will be unveiled very shortly.”

The Guardian’s Jennifer Lindauer had this to say:

“Glenn Greenwald is a remarkable journalist and it has been fantastic working with him. Our work together over the last year has demonstrated the crucial role that responsible investigative journalism can play in holding those in power to account. We are of course disappointed by Glenn’s decision to move on, but can appreciate the attraction of the new role he has been offered. We wish him all the best.”

My statement and the Guardian's http://t.co/3wC6OtkIpV

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 15, 2013

Greenwald wasn’t too forthcoming on the nature of his new gig, but he did tell BuzzFeed that it would be a well-funded, “substantial” new media outlet.

“My role, aside from reporting and writing for it, is to create the entire journalism unit from the ground up by recruiting the journalists and editors who share the same journalistic ethos and shaping the whole thing – but especially the political journalism part – in the image of the journalism I respect most,” he said.

Image via Wikimedia Commons