PIMCO's parent company, Allianz, made the announcement yesterday. El-Erian will stay on as an adviser to Allianz after he leaves PIMCO.
Bloomberg News correspondents Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam and Alexis Leondis write:
Gross said he was shocked and discouraged when El-Erian told him several weeks ago that he wanted to leave to "recharge the batteries," write a second book and spend more time with his family. He, along with the firm's executive committee, tried to persuade El-Erian to change his mind, Gross said. El-Erian's "When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies for the Age of the Global Economy" came out in 2008.
"From our standpoint he was doing a great job," Gross said in the phone interview. "The Answer we gave him was basically, 'Hell no, you can't go.'"
Gross's comments perhaps dispel one popular theory surrounding El-Erian's departure - that the two didn't see eye to eye.