Chelsea Clinton is saying goodbye to her NBC News gig — and eye-popping $600,000 paycheck. 
 
 The 34-year-old mom-to-be revealed Friday she’s giving up her cushy special correspondent gig “to continue focusing on my work at the Clinton Foundation and as (my husband) Marc and I look forward to welcoming our first child.” 
 
 “It’s been a privilege to be part of the NBC Family,” Clinton added in a posting on her Facebook page. 
 
 “I admire the work and dedication that their reporters, producers, crews, editors and studio teams deliver every day.” 
 
 The ex-First Daughter nabbed a $600,000 salary for her handful of NBC News stories. (Mark Baker/AP) 
 
 Boasting a big name but zero experience in journalism, Clinton joined NBC News as a full-time special correspondent in 2011. 
 
 In the ensuing years, she filed a trickle of stories, primarily feel-good feature pieces for her "Making a Difference" segment highlighting nonprofit work. 
 
 A ripple of shock coursed through the industry after the former First Daughter’s seismic salary was revealed in June. 
 
 Co-workers no more: Chelsea Clinton, left, chats with Brian Willams, anchor of NBC News, where Clinton has quit her job as a special correspondent. (Peter Kramer/Peter Kramer/NBC) 
 
 Her last segment aired Aug. 1. Starting this year, Clinton was working for the network on a month-to-month basis. 
 
 "Chelsea’s storytelling inspired people across the country and showcased the real power we have as individuals to make a difference in our communities," said Alex Wallace, a senior vice president of NBC News. 
 
 "While she will be missed, we look forward to working with her in the future.” ||||| Chelsea Clinton earned an annual salary of $600,000 at NBC News before switching to a month-to-month contract earlier this year, sources with knowledge of the agreement told POLITICO. 
 
 Clinton, who joined NBC News as a special correspondent in November 2011, was up for renewal or nonrenewal this year. Instead, the sources said, the network decided to keep her on the payroll on a month-to-month basis so the two parties could sever ties if Clinton’s mother, Hillary Clinton, runs for president. 
 
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 Kamyl Bazbaz, a spokesperson for the 34-year-old Clinton, referred POLITICO to NBC News, which declined to discuss Clinton’s contract. “We don’t comment on details of existing contracts,” a network spokesperson said. “NBC News continues to enjoy a wonderful working relationship with Chelsea, and we are proud of her work.” 
 
 (WATCH: The Clintons on grandparenting) 
 
 As special correspondent, Clinton worked on service-related feature assignments for NBC’s “Rock Center with Brian Williams” until the show’s cancellation in June 2013. Clinton has since worked on packages for NBC Nightly News. 
 
 In that time, Clinton’s principal occupation has been the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, where she has been a major force in steering her parents’ charitable work in the final years of her mother’s tenure at the State Department, and since. This April, she announced that she is pregnant. Clinton is due to deliver her first child in the fall, and it’s unclear whether she will resume work with NBC after that. 
 
 When Clinton joined NBC, many media critics chafed at the network’s decision to employ a former first daughter with no experience in journalism. The New York Post referred to Clinton as “just another spoiled, aimless child of rich, successful parents chauffeured through adulthood by Mommy and Daddy’s connections.” 
 
 (PHOTOS: Chelsea Clinton's life) 
 
 Yet Clinton’s appointment did not mark the first time NBC Universal had hired children of high-ranking politicians. In 2009, it hired George W. Bush’s daughter Jenna Bush Hager to serve as a correspondent on the “Today” show. In 2011, it hired Sen. John McCain’s daughter Meghan McCain as a contributor on MSNBC. 
 
 The details of Clinton’s deal with NBC have been closely held since she joined the network. 
 
 Follow @politico ||||| Chelsea Clinton is leaving NBC after three years as a special correspondent for the network, citing her desire to focus on the Clinton Foundation and her pregnancy, she told People magazine on Friday. 
 
 In a statement, the former first daughter said she was leaving the network "to continue focusing on my work at the Clinton Foundation and as Marc [Mezvinsky] and I look forward to welcoming our first child." 
 
 Clinton's departure brings an end to a lucrative three-year run during which she made a handful of feel-good packages for NBC's "Making a Difference" franchise. Clinton's annual salary at the network was $600,000, translating to roughly $26,724 for each minute she appeared on air -- a sore subject for the many hardworking journalists at NBC who made considerably less. In January, Clinton switched to a month-to-month contract. 
 
 Alex Wallace, the senior vice president of NBC News, said the network was "thankful for all of Chelsea’s contributions to NBC News over the past three years." 
 
 "Chelsea’s storytelling inspired people across the country and showcased the real power we have as individuals to make a difference in our communities," Wallace said. "While she will be missed, we look forward to working with her in the future.” 
 
 UPDATE (10:50 a.m.): Clinton also wrote about her departure on her Facebook page. 
 
 Read more about: NBC, Chelsea Clinton
– Chelsea Clinton is ditching her high-paid gig as a special correspondent for NBC News, People reports. The First Daughter says she'll continue her charity work with the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation as she and husband Marc Mezvinsky expect their first child. Clinton's upbeat NBC segments didn't draw huge audiences, the New York Times reports, but gave communities and nonprofits a lot of attention: "It’s hard to get stories like this told on a platform as big as NBC Nightly News," says the head of Share Our Strength, which helps feed needy children. Another example: The nonprofit TOPPS (which provides meals, mentoring, and tutoring for young people, notes Huffington Post) pulled in $300,000 after Clinton's segment on NBC, according to the network. Only rough patch for Clinton: Her "eye-popping" $600,000 salary, the Daily News reports, which Politico says earned her $26,724 for each minute of airtime (Chelsea dialed down her salary to a monthly paycheck "that allowed her to exit," the Times says). Critics also questioned whether her position was becoming a conflict of interest, as Hillary went on a book tour that some considered a de facto presidential-campaign launch.