"I have decided to step down from my role as Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in order to pursue the next phase of my career," Mr Campbell wrote. Over the course of Campbell's tenure, the museum endured serious debt, major layoffs, criticized renovation plans. Thomas Campbell, who was appointed director and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum in 2008, will stay on with the museum until the end of the fiscal year in June, while Daniel Weiss, the Met's president and COO, will act as its interim chief executive. Daniel Brodsky, the museum's chairman, said: "We are not looking to appoint a new director immediately but instead will take some time to consider the leadership needs of the museum in a thoughtful and deliberative way." During Campbell's stewardship the museum registered record attendance numbers, but last April, Weiss announced that the museum would have to deal with a $40m deficit if it didn't get its finances under control.