The “Money Honey” is headed for greener pastures.
Longtime CNBC business-news anchor Maria Bartiromo will jump ship to cable rival Fox Business Network after her current five-year contract expires later this month, sources close to the deal told The Post.
CNBC confirmed Bartiromo’s impending departure, saying its No. 1 star “will be leaving the company as her contract expires on November 24,” following “20 years of groundbreaking work at CNBC.”
“Her contributions to CNBC are too numerous to list but we thank her for all of her hard work over the years and wish her the best,” the network added.
Fox Business didn’t confirm its hire, but sources said Bartiromo’s pact with the network was all but finalized.
One former TV news exec said Bartiromo’s move meant that “the wheels are officially falling off of the NBC News Group.”
“Maria is a huge loss for CNBC,” the source said.
“Booking wars are officially over with her departure….CNBC will not get the big gets.”
Bartiromo’s departure is also a sign that NBC News Group Chairmwoman Pat Fili-Krushel “can’t keep her top-tier talent happy,” the source added.
“Ratings are dreadful at CNBC and they have just lost their biggest draw. Advertisers will be angry,” the source said.
“Fili-Krushel was just schooled by the brilliant [Fox News chief] Roger Ailes.”
Sources close to Fox Business anchor Liz Claman, who left CNBC in 2007, also said she’s not likely to be happy at Bartiromo’s arrival.
Bartiromo, who reportedly earns as much as $4 million a year at CNBC, recently hired the powerhouse Creative Artists Agency to score her more money.
The stunning Brooklyn-born brunette, 46, was the first woman to report live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange,earning her the “Money Honey” moniker.
But her reputation took a hit last month when The Post’s Page Six reported she was named as a potential witness in the divorce of ex-Citigroup exec Todd Thompson, who infamously bumped other bankers from his corporate jet so he could fly solo with Bartiromo in 2007.
At the time, The Wall Street Journal reported that Thompson had also bankrolled Citi functions and TV shows that featured Bartiromo, and named her to a board he created at his alma mater, the Wharton business school.
Bartiromo is married to Jonathan “Jono” Steinberg, son of the late corporate raider Saul Steinberg. They live on the Upper East Side.