Wenda Harris Millard is stepping down from her post as president of Media and Co-CEO at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO), in what the company is calling an “executive reorg” of its media division. There are no plans to replace Millard or name a new co-CEO. Martha Stewart, MSLO’s founder and namesake, will handle “all editorial and creative functions.” In addition, MSLO Chairman Charles Koppelman, who in addition to serving as the company’s Principal Executive Officer, will now oversee MSLO’s Media businesses. The change appeared to be in the air last month, when Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) vet Kelli Turner was brought in as the new CFO. The company’s release at the time made a point of saying that Turner would be reporting to Koppelman and not Millard or her co-CEO Robin Marino. 

— Millard joins MediaLink: As she wraps up her work at MSLO over the next few weeks, Millard told me that she will be heading to Michael Kassan’s MediaLink as president. The offers strategic advisory services to companies in marketing, media, entertainment and advertising with an emphasis on Fortune 100 companies. “The way I look at, was after five years of service to the company—two on the board—the time was right. This is very different from what I’ve done at Martha Stewart. I’ll be working with a lot of different companies, some of the best in the world. So this was something I thought a lot about. It was too exciting not to do.” More after the jump.

—Marino is sole CEO: Marino, who was named co-CEO with Millard after sole CEO Susan Lyne exited the company last June, will continue to oversee Merchandising, serving as the segment’s President and CEO. Marino will continue to report to Koppelman. She is expected to be recommended to join MSLO’s Board of Directors. The news comes as a difficult earnings season kicks off; MSLO’s Q4 ended with ad revenues up 14 percent, an achievement that was credited to Millard. Still, it’s doubtful that the company will be able to maintain that kind of ad growth in Q1.

—They said it would never last: When MSLO announced the dual CEO roles for Millard and Marino, many observers said it would never last. Although Millard was said to be good friends with Stewart for several years, the prospect of two equal leaders at the top of a company is very rare. I asked her how she and Marino would work together just after it was announced that she would ascend to the role of co-CEO from her post as president of Media. “Robin and I have been working together for three years,” she said at the time. “Our new positions keeps us running those two areas and will make us more collaborative.” Nevertheless, it was constantly assumed that one side would win out. Greater doubts began to surface last fall, when the the NYPost began running items suggesting a “feud” between Millard and Stewart. Millard dismissed those rumors last October at ContentNext Media’s EconWomen conference, saying, “I don’t know where people get this stuff.” Last October, MSLO began showing signs of joining the Media and Merchandising units closer together, after former InStyle.com exec Gail Horwood was named to the new role of SVP Digital Programming and Strategy, which entails guiding MSLO’s online editorial strategy, as well as driving the online retail business.

Millard came to MSLO after departing Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) as chief sales officer in June 2007. She is a favorite presence on the media conference circuit and has enjoyed a reputation of sparking debate with attention-getting comments like comparing ad networks’ sale of remnant inventory to commodities like “pork bellies.”

—Pay grade: Both Millard’s and Marino’s contract with MSLO expires in Dec. 2011, according to an 8-K filed last fall. The company had set the salaries of its two co-CEOs at base salaries of $650,000, with a target bonus of 100 percent of the base. Their contract also stated that the two should they retire or be fired without good cause, they would be eligible for a lump sum payment equal to 18 months salary.

• Industry Moves: Time Warner’s Kelli Turner Appointed New Martha Stewart CFO
• Industry Moves: MSLO Hires InStyle.com’s Horwood To Chart Online Editorial Strategy
• Industry Moves: MSLO CEO Lyne Steps Down; Millard and Marino Named Co-CEOs
• Yahoo Merges Ad Sales Units; Wenda Harris Millard Leaves To Join MSLO