Financial Times#How to Spend It

{{Short description|British newspaper}}

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{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{infobox newspaper

| logo = File:Financial Times masthead.svg

| language = English

| image = Financial_Times_22_February_2021_cover.jpg

| caption = Cover of the 22 February 2021 issue

| foundation = {{start date and age|1888|1|9|df=yes}}

| format = {{plainlist|

}}

| owner = The Financial Times Ltd.
(Nikkei Inc.)

| political = {{nowrap|Liberalism{{cite web |title=Financial Times {{pipe}} eurotopics.net |url=https://www.eurotopics.net/en/148542/financial-times |website=eurotopics.net (BPB) |access-date=17 April 2020 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206210737/https://www.eurotopics.net/en/148542/financial-times |url-status=live }}
Conservative liberalism
Centre{{cite web |website=oxford-royale.com |url=https://www.oxford-royale.com/articles/a-guide-to-british-newspapers/ |title=Black and White and Read All over: A Guide to British Newspapers |date=28 March 2018 |access-date=16 March 2023 |archive-date=17 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317095302/https://www.oxford-royale.com/articles/a-guide-to-british-newspapers/ |url-status=live |last1=Royale |first1=Oxford }} to centre-right{{cite book |editor=Christina Schaeffner |title=Political Discourse, Media and Translation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6BIaBwAAQBAJ&dq=centre-right+liberal+FT&pg=PA35 |quote= With regard to political affiliation The Daily Telegraph is a right-wing paper, The Times centre-right, The Financial Times centre-right and liberal, and The Guardian centre-left. |date=2009 |page=35 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-1793-6}}}}

| headquarters = Bracken House
London, England

| editor = Roula Khalaf

| circulation = 106,871

| circulation_date = February 2025

| circulation_ref = {{cite web |title=Financial Times |url=https://www.abc.org.uk/product/2301 |publisher=Audit Bureau of Circulations |date=11 March 2025 |access-date=30 March 2025 |archive-date=19 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919094509/https://www.abc.org.uk/product/2301 |url-status=live }}

| sister newspapers = Nikkei Asia

| ISSN = 0307-1766

| oclc = 60638918

| website = {{official URL}}

| depeditor = Patrick Jenkins

| type = Daily newspaper

| founder = James Sheridan

}}

The Financial Times (FT) is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikkei, with core editorial offices across Britain, the United States and continental Europe. In July 2015, Pearson sold the publication to Nikkei for £844 million (US$1.32 billion) after owning it since 1957. In 2019, it reported one million paying subscriptions, three-quarters of which were digital subscriptions.{{cite web|title=FT tops one million paying readers|url=https://aboutus.ft.com/en-gb/announcements/ft-tops-one-million-paying-readers/|website=Financial Times|date=April 2019|language=en-GB|access-date=19 April 2019|archive-date=19 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419171825/https://aboutus.ft.com/en-gb/announcements/ft-tops-one-million-paying-readers/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Greenslade|first=Roy|date=14 April 2019|title=Financial Times thrives by focusing on subscriptions|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/commentisfree/2019/apr/14/financial-times-thrives-by-focusing-on-subscriptions|access-date=19 April 2019|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=19 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419171820/https://www.theguardian.com/media/commentisfree/2019/apr/14/financial-times-thrives-by-focusing-on-subscriptions|url-status=live}} In 2023, it was reported to have 1.3 million subscribers of which 1.2 million were digital.{{Cite web |last=Guaglione |first=Sara |date=28 September 2023 |title=Financial Times targets U.S. and global readers with subscription app products |url=https://digiday.com/media/financial-times-targets-u-s-and-global-readers-with-subscription-app-products/ |access-date=16 March 2024 |website=Digiday |language=en-US}} The newspaper has a prominent focus on financial journalism and economic analysis rather than generalist reporting, drawing both criticism and acclaim. It sponsors an annual book award and publishes a "Person of the Year" feature.

The paper was founded in January 1888 as the London Financial Guide before rebranding a month later as the Financial Times. It was first circulated around metropolitan London by James Sheridan, who, along with his brother and Horatio Bottomley, sought to report on city business opposite the Financial News. The succeeding half-century of competition between the two papers eventually culminated in a 1945 merger, led by Brendan Bracken, which established it as one of the largest business newspapers in the world.

Globalisation from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries facilitated editorial expansion for the FT, with the paper adding opinion columns, special reports, political cartoons, readers' letters, book reviews, technology articles and global politics features. The paper is often characterised by its light-pink (salmon) newsprint. It is supplemented by its lifestyle magazine (FT Magazine), weekend edition (FT Weekend) and some industry publications.

The editorial stance of the Financial Times centres on economic liberalism, particularly advocacy of free trade and free markets. Since its founding, it has supported liberal democracy, favouring classically liberal politics and policies from international governments; its newsroom is independent from its editorial board, and it is considered a newspaper of record. Due to its history of economic commentary, the FT publishes a variety of financial indices, primarily the FTSE All-Share Index. Since the late 20th century, its typical depth of coverage has linked the paper with a white-collar, educated, and financially literate readership.{{cite news |last1=Plunkett |first1=John |last2=Martinson |first2=Jane |title=Financial Times sold to Japanese media group Nikkei for £844m |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/23/financial-times-sale-pearson |work=The Guardian |date=24 July 2015 |access-date=29 May 2020 |issn=0261-3077 |language=en-GB |archive-date=23 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523174549/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/23/financial-times-sale-pearson |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Kynaston |first=David |title=A Brief History of the Financial Times |url=https://www.gale.com/binaries/content/assets/gale-us-en/primary-sources/intl-gps/intl-gps-essays/full-ghn-contextual-essays/ghn_essay_ftha_kynaston1_website.pdf |publisher=Viking Adult |year=1988 |access-date=20 May 2020 |archive-date=18 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218030317/https://www.gale.com/binaries/content/assets/gale-us-en/primary-sources/intl-gps/intl-gps-essays/full-ghn-contextual-essays/ghn_essay_ftha_kynaston1_website.pdf |url-status=live }} Because of this tendency, the FT has traditionally been regarded as a centrist{{cite book |editor-last=Rawlinson |editor-first=Francis |title=How Press Propaganda Paved the Way to Brexit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J2vLDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+Financial+Times%22+%22Centre%22+How+Press+Propaganda+Paved+the+Way+to+Brexit&pg=PA65 |publisher=Springer Nature |date=2020 |page=65 |isbn=978-3-030-27765-9}} to centre-right{{cite book |editor-last=Schaeffner |editor-first=Christina |title=Political Discourse, Media and Translation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6BIaBwAAQBAJ&dq=centre-right+liberal+FT&pg=PA35 |quote=With regard to political affiliation The Daily Telegraph is a right-wing paper, The Times centre-right, The Financial Times centre-right and liberal, and The Guardian centre-left. |date=2009 |page=35 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-1793-6}} liberal,{{cite book|editor=Essvale Corporation Limited |title=Business Knowledge for IT in Retail Banking: A Complete Handbook for IT Professionals |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lkkGaIr3DQkC&dq=centre-right+liberal+FT&pg=PA46 |quote=The Financial Times is normally seen as centre-right/liberal, although to the left of its principal competitor, The Wall Street Journal. It advocates free markets and is generally in favour of globalisation. |date=2007 |page=46 |publisher=Essvale Corporation Limited |isbn=978-0-9554124-2-4}} neo-liberal,{{cite book |last1=Morgan |first1=Kevin |last2=Marsden |first2=Terry |last3=Murdoch |first3=Jonathan |title=Worlds of Food: Place, Power, and Provenance in the Food Chain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LeM9CyPsnvAC&dq=%22liberal+Financial+Times%22&pg=PA41 |quote=The neo-liberal Financial Times was outraged by the Farm Bill's 'grotesque farm subsidies' and it accused Washington of having 'surrendered to protectionism', while the heads of the WTO, World Bank, and the IMF penned a joint protest ... |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2006 |page=41 |isbn=978-0-19-155662-3}} and conservative-liberal{{cite book |editor-last=Kirchhelle |editor-first=Claas |title=Pyrrhic Progress: The History of Antibiotics in Anglo-American Food Production |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jT6-DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22liberal+Financial+Times%22&pg=PA1927 |quote=Enthusiastic reports subsequently appeared in the left-leaning Observer and the conservative-liberal Financial Times. |date=2020 |page=1927 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-9149-0}} newspaper. The Financial Times is headquartered in Bracken House at 1 Friday Street, near the city's financial centre, where it maintains its publishing house, corporate centre, and main editorial office.

History

= Origins =

The FT was launched as the London Financial Guide on 10 January 1888, renaming itself the Financial Times on 13 February the same year. Describing itself as the friend of "The Honest Financier, the Bona Fide Investor, the Respectable Broker, the Genuine Director, and the Legitimate Speculator", it was a four-page journal. The readership was the financial community of the City of London, its only rival being the more daring and slightly older (founded in 1884) Financial News. On 2 January 1893 the FT began printing on light pink paper to distinguish it from the similarly named Financial News: at the time, it was also cheaper to print on unbleached paper (several other more general newspapers, such as The Sporting Times, had the same policy), but nowadays it is more expensive as the paper has to be dyed specially.{{cite web|website=Financial Times|title=About the newspaper|url=http://help.ft.com/newspaper-delivery/about-the-newspaper/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108062240/http://help.ft.com/newspaper-delivery/about-the-newspaper/#axzz3ZDPTGgyZ|archive-date=8 January 2012 |access-date=4 May 2015}}

= Purchase by the Berry brothers =

The Berry brothers, Lord Camrose and Gomer Berry (later Lord Kemsley), purchased the Financial Times in 1919.{{cite book|author-link= David Kynaston|first=David|last=Kynaston|title=The Financial Times: A Centenary History|publisher= Viking |date=1988|pages=142–144}}

= Purchase by Brendan Bracken; merger with the ''Financial News'' =

In 1945, Brendan Bracken purchased the Financial Times from Lord Camrose, and, following 57 years of rivalry, merged it with the Financial News to form a single six-page newspaper. The Financial Times had a higher circulation, while the Financial News provided much of the editorial talent. The Lex column was also introduced from Financial News.{{cite web |url=http://gale.cengage.co.uk/images/FT%20Brief%20History%20by%20David%20Kynaston.pdf |title=A brief history of the FT by David Kynaston, author of The Financial Times: A Centenary History. |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015044548/http://gale.cengage.co.uk/images/FT%20Brief%20History%20by%20David%20Kynaston.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2013 }} With this purchase and merger, Bracken is credited as being "the effective founding father of the modern Financial Times, Britain’s highest quality daily newspaper."{{Cite web |last=Evilly |first=Barry Mac |date=2016-09-28 |title=Churchill & the Irishman |url=https://www.littlemuseum.ie/whats-on/churchill-the-irishman/ |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=Little Museum of Dublin |language=en-US}}

= Gordon Newton and "direct recruitment" =

Gordon Newton, a Cambridge graduate, took over as editor in 1949, and immediately introduced a policy (then most unusual in Fleet Street) of direct recruitment of new university graduates, mainly from Oxbridge, as its trainee journalists. Many of them proceeded to have distinguished careers elsewhere in journalism and British public life and became the mainstay of the paper's own editorial strengths until the 1990s. The first such 'direct recruit' was future leading British economist Andrew Shonfield; the second was (later Sir) William Rees-Mogg who went on, via The Sunday Times, to edit The Times in 1967 following its acquisition by Roy Thomson. Other FT Oxbridge recruits included the future Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson. The FT{{'}}s distinctive recruitment policy for Fleet Street journalists was never popular with the National Union of Journalists and ceased in 1966 following the recruitment of Richard Lambert from Oxford, himself a future Editor of the FT.

= Purchase by Pearson and growth into a global newspaper =

Meanwhile, Pearson had bought the paper in 1957.{{cite web|title=History of Pearson plc |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/pearson-plc-history/|access-date=2 March 2021|website=FundingUniverse |archive-date=4 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504105629/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/pearson-plc-history/|url-status=live}} Over the years, the paper grew in size, readership, and breadth of coverage. It established correspondents in cities around the world, reflecting a renewed impetus in the world economy towards globalisation. As cross-border trade and capital flows increased during the 1970s, the FT began international expansion, facilitated by developments in technology and the growing acceptance of English as the international language of business. On 1 January 1979 the first FT (Continental Europe edition) was printed outside the UK, in Frankfurt; printing in the U.S. began in July 1985.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YO5VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=g-EDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6636%2C6548979 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |title=Financial Times of London now printed in U.S. |date=28 July 1985 |page=3F |access-date=22 April 2021 |archive-date=22 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422202132/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YO5VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=g-EDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6636,6548979 |url-status=live }}

Since then, with increased international coverage, the FT has become a global newspaper, printed in 22 locations with five international editions to serve the UK, continental Europe, the U.S., Asia and the Middle East.{{cite web |url=http://www.fttoolkit.co.uk/2011mediakit/history_video.html |title=FT's Media Kit: FT Heritage and Innovation |publisher=Fttoolkit.co.uk |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215215337/http://www.fttoolkit.co.uk/2011mediakit/history_video.html |archive-date=15 February 2013 }}

The European edition is distributed throughout continental Europe and Africa. It is printed Monday to Saturday at five centres across Europe, reporting on matters concerning the European Union, the euro and European corporate affairs.{{cite web |url=https://www.financialtimes.net/about_fttour.html |title=FT tour |website=Financial Times|publisher=Financialtimes.net |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513183713/https://www.financialtimes.net/about_fttour.html |archive-date=13 May 2013 }} In 1994 FT launched a luxury lifestyle magazine, How To Spend It. In 2009 it launched a standalone website for the magazine.{{cite web |url=http://www.pearson.com/news/2009/october/financial-times-launches-how-to-spend-it-online.html?article=true |title=Financial Times launches How To Spend It online |publisher=Pearson |date=1 October 2009 |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015160117/http://www.pearson.com/news/2009/october/financial-times-launches-how-to-spend-it-online.html?article=true |archive-date=15 October 2013 }}

= FT.com =

On 13 May 1995 the Financial Times group made its first foray into the online world with the launch of FT.com. This provided a summary of news from around the globe, which was supplemented in February 1996 with stock price coverage. The second-generation site was launched in spring 1996. The site was funded by advertising and contributed to the online advertising market in the UK in the late 1990s. Between 1997 and 2000, the site underwent several revamps and changes of strategy, as the FT Group and Pearson reacted to the changes online. FT introduced subscription services in 2002.{{cite web |url=http://www.pearson.com/news/2002/april/ftcom-to-launch-improved-website-with-new-content-and-services.html?article=true |title=FT.com to launch improved website with new content and services for users, subscribers and advertisers |publisher=Pearson |date=30 April 2002 |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015160115/http://www.pearson.com/news/2002/april/ftcom-to-launch-improved-website-with-new-content-and-services.html?article=true |archive-date=15 October 2013 }} FT.com is one of the few UK news sites successfully funded by individual subscription.

In 1997, the FT launched a U.S. edition, printed in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, Orlando and Washington, D.C., although the newspaper was first printed outside New York City in 1985. In September 1998 the FT became the first UK-based newspaper to sell more copies internationally than within the UK. In 2000 the Financial Times started publishing a German-language edition, Financial Times Deutschland, with a news and editorial team based in Hamburg. Its initial circulation in 2003 was 90,000. It was originally a joint venture with a German publishing firm, Gruner + Jahr. In January 2008 the FT sold its 50% stake to its German partner.{{cite web |url=http://www.pearson.com/news/2008/january/pearson-to-sell-its-ft-deutschland-stake-to-gruner-%2B-jahr.html?article=true |title=Pearson to sell its FT Deutschland stake to Gruner + Jahr |publisher=Pearson |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015160113/http://www.pearson.com/news/2008/january/pearson-to-sell-its-ft-deutschland-stake-to-gruner-%2B-jahr.html?article=true |archive-date=15 October 2013 }} FT Deutschland never made a profit and is said to have accumulated losses of €250 million over 12 years. It closed on 7 December 2012.{{cite web|last=Wiesmann |first=Gerrit |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0c8df1ae-356b-11e2-bd77-00144feabdc0.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0c8df1ae-356b-11e2-bd77-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |title=FT Deutschland closure date confirmed |work=Financial Times |date=23 November 2012 |access-date=15 October 2013}}{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/business/21567952-curtains-or-see-you-world-wide-web-so-farewell-then-ftd |title=So farewell then, FTD |newspaper=The Economist |date=8 December 2012 |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-date=20 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020131605/http://www.economist.com/news/business/21567952-curtains-or-see-you-world-wide-web-so-farewell-then-ftd |url-status=live }} The Financial Times launched a new weekly supplement for the fund management industry on 4 February 2002. FT fund management (FTfm) was and still is distributed with the paper every Monday. FTfm is the world's largest-circulation fund management title.{{cite web |url=http://www.pearson.com/news/2002/january/financial-times-to-expand-fund-management-coverage.html?article=true |title=Financial Times to expand fund management coverage with new weekly supplement |publisher=Pearson |date=28 January 2002 |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015160028/http://www.pearson.com/news/2002/january/financial-times-to-expand-fund-management-coverage.html?article=true |archive-date=15 October 2013 }} Since 2005 the FT has sponsored the annual Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award.{{cite web |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/d61420c0-a83d-11d9-87a9-00000e2511c8.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/d61420c0-a83d-11d9-87a9-00000e2511c8.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-status=live |title=Why there is a need for this award |website=Financial Times |date=10 April 2005 |access-date=30 May 2012}}

File:Financial Times building One Southwark Bridge.jpg|alt=|225x225px|left]]

= "Refreshed" ''FT'' =

On 23 April 2007, the FT unveiled a "refreshed" version of the newspaper and introduced a new slogan, "We Live in Financial Times".{{cite web |url=http://www.pearson.com/news/2007/april/financial-times-unveils-global-refresh.html?article=true |title=Financial Times unveils global refresh |publisher=Pearson |date=23 April 2007 |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015160110/http://www.pearson.com/news/2007/april/financial-times-unveils-global-refresh.html?article=true |archive-date=15 October 2013 }} In 2007 the FT pioneered a metered paywall, which let visitors to its website read a limited number of free articles during any one month before asking them to pay.{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/node/18904178 |title=Special report: The news industry |newspaper=The Economist |date=7 July 2011 |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612170302/https://www.economist.com/node/18904178 |url-status=live }} Four years later the FT launched its HTML5 mobile internet app. Smartphones and tablets now drive 12% of subscriptions and 19% of traffic to FT.com.{{cite web |url=http://aboutus.ft.com/2012/04/12/ft-web-app-hits-two-million-users/ |title=FT Web App hits two million users |work=Financial Times |date=12 April 2012 |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-date=13 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313053459/http://aboutus.ft.com/2012/04/12/ft-web-app-hits-two-million-users/ }} In 2012, the number of digital subscribers surpassed the circulation of the newspaper for the first time and the FT drew almost half of its revenue from subscriptions rather than advertising.{{cite web |last=Barber |first=Lionel |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/6fce6e6e-711c-11e2-9d5c-00144feab49a.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/6fce6e6e-711c-11e2-9d5c-00144feab49a.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title= FT at 125: The world in focus |work=Financial Times |date=12 February 2013 |access-date=15 October 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://aboutus.ft.com/2013/01/03/gillian-tett-keynote-remarks-at-the-knight-bagehot-37th-anniversary-gala/ |title=Gillian Tett keynote remarks at the Knight-Bagehot 37th Anniversary Gala |work=Financial Times |date=3 January 2013 |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-date=7 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307121537/http://aboutus.ft.com/2013/01/03/gillian-tett-keynote-remarks-at-the-knight-bagehot-37th-anniversary-gala/ }}

The FT has been available on Bloomberg Terminal since 2010{{cite web |url=http://www.pearson.com/news/2010/december/financial-times-now-available-on-bloomberg-professional.html?article=true |title=Financial Times now available on Bloomberg Professional |publisher=Pearson.com |date=6 December 2010 |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015160108/http://www.pearson.com/news/2010/december/financial-times-now-available-on-bloomberg-professional.html?article=true |archive-date=15 October 2013 }} and on the Wisers platform since 2013.{{cite web |url=https://aboutus.ft.com/en-gb/announcements/financial-times-launches-on-wisers-services/ |title=Financial Times launches on Wisers services |website=Financial Times |date=6 May 2013 |access-date=19 July 2017 |archive-date=18 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018082357/https://aboutus.ft.com/en-gb/announcements/financial-times-launches-on-wisers-services/ |url-status=live }} From 2015, instead of the metered paywall on the website, visitors were given unlimited free access for one month, after which they needed to subscribe.{{cite news |title=Financial Times CEO John Ridding explains how to make people pay for media |first=Eric |last=Johnson |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/4/5/17200016/john-ridding-financial-times-ft-online-subscriptions-paywall-nikkei-peter-kafka-recode-media-podcast |newspaper=Recode.net |via=Vox |date=5 April 2018 |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801043704/https://www.vox.com/2018/4/5/17200016/john-ridding-financial-times-ft-online-subscriptions-paywall-nikkei-peter-kafka-recode-media-podcast |url-status=live }} Pearson sold the Financial Times Group to Nikkei, Inc. for £844 million (US$1.32 billion) in July 2015.

In 2016, the Financial Times acquired a controlling stake in Alpha Grid, a London-based media company specialising in the development and production of quality branded content across a range of channels, including broadcast, video, digital, social and events.{{cite news|url=https://aboutus.ft.com/en-gb/announcements/ft-expands-content-marketing-studio-with-majority-stake-in-alpha-grid/|title=FT expands content marketing studio with majority stake in Alpha Grid|access-date=2 March 2018|archive-date=3 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303105637/https://aboutus.ft.com/en-gb/announcements/ft-expands-content-marketing-studio-with-majority-stake-in-alpha-grid/|url-status=live}} In 2018, the Financial Times acquired a controlling stake in Longitude, a specialist provider of thought leadership and research services to a multinational corporate and institutional client base.{{cite news|url=https://aboutus.ft.com/en-gb/announcements/financial-times-acquires-majority-stake-in-research-and-content-specialists-longitude/|title=Financial Times acquires majority stake in research and content specialists Longitude|access-date=2 March 2018|archive-date=2 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302225357/https://aboutus.ft.com/en-gb/announcements/financial-times-acquires-majority-stake-in-research-and-content-specialists-longitude/|url-status=live}} This investment built on the Financial Times{{'}} recent growth in several business areas, including branded content via the acquisition of Alpha Grid, and conferences and events through Financial Times Live and extends the FT{{'s}} traditional commercial offering into a wider set of integrated services. In 2020, reporter Mark Di Stefano resigned from the Financial Times after hacking into Zoom calls at other media organisations including The Independent and the Evening Standard.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

In 2020, the retraction of an opinion piece by a reporter for the Financial Times generated a controversy about the editorial independence of the paper from outside political pressure. The controversy followed the withdrawal by the newspaper's editor of an opinion piece by FT{{'s}} Brussels correspondent Mehreen Khan that was critical of French President Emmanuel Macron's policy towards Muslim minorities in France. The piece was withdrawn from the FT website on the same day as its publication.{{cite news |last=Oborne |first=Peter |date=10 November 2020 |title=Freedom of speech in France extends to Macron's critics as well |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/freedom-speech-france-extends-macron-critics |work=Middle East Eye |access-date=4 July 2021 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184315/https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/freedom-speech-france-extends-macron-critics |url-status=live }} President Macron subsequently published a letter in the FT directly responding to the arguments of the original opinion piece, even though the original opinion piece was no longer available on the website of the newspaper.{{cite news |last=O'Leary |first=Naomi |date=11 November 2020 |title=Europe Letter: EU happy to celebrate or stigmatise Muslim immigrants when it suits agenda |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/macron-helps-propel-far-right-ideas-to-heart-of-europe-1.4406805 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=4 July 2021 |archive-date=9 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409201309/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/macron-helps-propel-far-right-ideas-to-heart-of-europe-1.4406805 |url-status=live }} The editor of the FT, Roula Khalaf, who took the decision to withdraw the initial article, acknowledged having been contacted by the Élysée Palace regarding the article, and defended her decision on the basis purely of several factual errors in the original piece by Mehreen Khan.{{cite AV media |people= Roula Khalaf and Amol Rajan |date=21 April 2021 |title= Roula Khalaf, editor of The Financial Times|medium= audio |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000v8ww |access-date= 4 July 2021 |time= 14:20 minutes in |work= BBC Sounds}}

=Wirecard exposé=

{{main|Wirecard scandal}}

In January 2019, the FT began a series of investigative articles detailing fraud suspicions at German payments group Wirecard. When the Wirecard share price plunged, German news media speculated that market manipulation was behind this attack on a German corporate, focusing on the lead author of the FT series, Dan McCrum. The Public prosecutor's office in Munich subsequently launched an investigation.{{cite news |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/finanzen/wirecard-ermittlungen-gegen-financial-times-journalisten-16047237.html |title=Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt gegen einen Financial-Times-Journalisten |work=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung |date=18 February 2019 |access-date=21 July 2019 |archive-date=26 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226152550/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/finanzen/wirecard-ermittlungen-gegen-financial-times-journalisten-16047237.html |url-status=live }} After the formal complaint of an investor, Wirecard and the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), the responsible state's attorney announced investigations into several FT journalists.{{cite news |url=https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/banken-versicherungen/zahlungsdienstleister-wirecard-erhebt-schwere-anschuldigungen-gegen-die-financial-times/24681644.html |title=Wirecard erhebt schwere Anschuldigungen gegen die 'Financial Times' |work=Handelsblatt |date=21 July 2019 |access-date=21 July 2019 |archive-date=22 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722155343/https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/banken-versicherungen/zahlungsdienstleister-wirecard-erhebt-schwere-anschuldigungen-gegen-die-financial-times/24681644.html |url-status=live }}

On 22 June 2020 and after 18 months of investigations and an external audit, Wirecard announced that €1.9 billion worth of cash reported in its accounts "may not exist". The company subsequently filed for insolvency.{{cite news |title=Wirecard investors set for legal battle as accounting questions mount |url=https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/wirecard-investors-set-for-legal-battle-as-accounting-questions-mount-59114712 |access-date=26 June 2020 |work=S&P Global |date=26 June 2020 |language=en-US |archive-date=29 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629120404/https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/wirecard-investors-set-for-legal-battle-as-accounting-questions-mount-59114712 |url-status=live }} BaFin itself became subject of a European Securities and Markets Authority investigation for its response to the scandal.{{cite news |last=Davies |first=Pascale |title=EU to investigate German financial watchdog over Wirecard scandal |url=https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/25/wirecard-goes-bust-amid-german-accounting-scandal |access-date=27 June 2020 |publisher=Euronews |date=25 June 2020 |archive-date=27 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627061543/https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/25/wirecard-goes-bust-amid-german-accounting-scandal |url-status=live }}

= Fossil fuel advertising =

An investigation by the Intercept, the Nation, and DeSmog found that FT is one of the leading media outlets that publishes advertising for the fossil fuel industry.{{cite news|date=5 December 2023|author=Amy Westervelt & Matthew Green|url=https://theintercept.com/2023/12/05/fossil-fuel-industry-media-company-advertising/|title=Leading News Outlets Are Doing the Fossil Fuel Industry's Greenwashing|publisher=The Intercept|access-date=1 September 2024}} Journalists who cover climate change for FT are concerned that conflicts of interest with the companies and industries that caused climate change and obstructed action will reduce the credibility of their reporting on climate change and cause readers to downplay the climate crisis.

Audience

According to the Global Capital Markets Survey, which measures readership habits among most senior financial decision makers in the world's largest financial institutions, the Financial Times is considered the most important business read, reaching 36% of the sample population, 11% more than The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), its main rival. The Economist, which was once 50% owned by FT, reaches 32%. FT{{'s}} The Banker also proved vital reading, reaching 24%.{{cite web |url=http://www.gcmsurvey.com/Media.html |title=Global Capital Markets Survey 2011 |publisher=Gcmsurvey.com |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015044909/http://www.gcmsurvey.com/Media.html |archive-date=15 October 2013 }} In addition, in 2010 the FT was regarded as the most credible publication in reporting financial and economic issues among the Worldwide Professional Investment Community audience. The Economist was rated the third-most-credible title by most influential professional investors, while the WSJ was second.{{cite web |url=http://www.fttoolkit.co.uk/admediakit/pdfs/PIC_2010_May.ppt |title=Worldwide Professional Investment Community Study 2010. |access-date=15 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524155213/http://fttoolkit.co.uk/admediakit/pdfs/PIC_2010_May.ppt |archive-date=24 May 2012 }}

In 2022, the FT launched FT Edit, a low-price app aimed at attracting a younger audience.{{Cite web |last=Maher |first=Bron |date=26 May 2023 |title=Podcast 48: How the FT found a new paying audience with FT Edit |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/podcast-future-of-media-explained/ft-edit-revisited/ |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}}

Content

The FT is split into two sections. The first section covers domestic and international news, editorial commentary on politics and economics from FT journalists such as Martin Wolf, Gillian Tett and Edward Luce, and opinion pieces from globally renowned leaders, policymakers, academics and commentators.

The second section consists of financial data and news about companies and markets. Despite being generally regarded as primarily a financial newspaper, it does also contain TV listings, weather and other more informal articles. In 2021 and 2022, the outlet began focusing more on the cryptocurrency industry, launching a Digital Assets Dashboard, publishing multi-asset crypto indexes, starting a Cryptofinance newsletter dedicated to digital assets, and recruiting more journalists to cover the sector.{{cite web |last=Silvera |first=Ian |title=Inside the FT's crypto plans |url=https://www.news-future.com/p/inside-the-fts-crypto-plans |access-date=12 March 2022 |website=www.news-future.com |archive-date=13 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313111109/https://www.news-future.com/p/inside-the-fts-crypto-plans |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Granger |first=Jacob |date=28 July 2022 |title=The FT launches cryptofinance section and newsletter following reader demand |work=Journalism.co.uk |url=https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/the-ft-launches-cryptofinance-section-and-newsletter-following-reader-demand/s2/a950829/ |access-date=24 August 2022 |archive-date=19 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819201036/https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/the-ft-launches-cryptofinance-section-and-newsletter-following-reader-demand/s2/a950829/ |url-status=live }} About 110 of its 475 journalists are outside the United Kingdom.

=The ''Lex'' column=

The Lex column is a daily feature on the back page of the first section. It features analyses and opinions covering global economics and finance. The FT calls Lex its agenda-setting column. The column first appeared on Monday, 1 October 1945. The name may originally have stood for Lex Mercatoria, a Latin expression meaning literally "merchant law". It was conceived by Hargreaves Parkinson for the Financial News in the 1930s, and moved to the Financial Times when the two merged.

Lex boasts some distinguished alumni who have gone on to make careers in business and government—including Nigel Lawson (former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer), Richard Lambert (CBI director and former member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee), Martin Taylor (former chief executive of Barclays), John Makinson (chairman and chief executive of Penguin), John Gardiner (former chairman of Tesco), David Freud (former UBS banker and Labour adviser, now a Conservative peer), John Kingman (former head of UKFI and a banker at Rothschild's), George Graham (RBS banker), Andrew Balls (head of European portfolio management at PIMCO) and Jo Johnson (former Conservative Member of Parliament for Orpington).{{cite web|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070903221825/http://www.ft.com/lex/about | archive-date = 3 September 2007 |url = http://www.ft.com/lex/about|title = About Lex|access-date =4 September 2007|work=Financial Times}}

''FT Weekend''

The FT publishes a Saturday edition of the newspaper titled the Financial Times Weekend. It consists of international economic and political news, Companies & Markets, Life & Arts, House & Home and FT Magazine.

=''HTSI''=

HTSI (originally How to Spend It) is a weekly magazine published with FT Weekend. Founded and launched by Julia Carrick{{cite web|title=Julia Carrick|url=http://www.ftconferences.com/luxury2011/Page/Julia-Carrick/|work=FT Conferences|access-date=5 September 2011|archive-date=27 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027044506/http://www.ftconferences.com/luxury2011/Page/Julia-Carrick/}} with Lucia van der Post as founding editor, its articles concern luxury goods such as yachts, mansions, apartments, horlogerie, haute couture and automobiles, as well as fashion and columns by individuals in the arts, gardening, food, and hotel and travel industries. How to Spend It started in 1967 as a one-page consumer goods feature in the newspaper, which was edited by Sheila Black, the FT{{'s}} first female journalist, a former actor.{{cite news|last=Beckett|first=Andy|title=How to Spend It: the shopping list for the 1%|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jul/19/how-to-spend-it-the-shopping-list-for-the-1-percent|access-date=3 September 2018|newspaper=The Guardian|date=19 July 2018|location=London|archive-date=3 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903215252/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jul/19/how-to-spend-it-the-shopping-list-for-the-1-percent|url-status=live}} To celebrate its 15th anniversary, FT launched the online version of this publication on 3 October 2009.{{cite news|last=Allen|first=Katie|title=How To Spend It goes online – FT lures advertisers into uncharted waters|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/oct/02/ft-how-to-spend-it-online-launch|access-date=5 September 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2 October 2009|location=London|archive-date=21 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221044222/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/oct/02/ft-how-to-spend-it-online-launch|url-status=live}}

Some media commentators were taken aback by the online launch of a website supporting conspicuous consumption during the financial austerity of the late-2000s recession. The magazine has been derided in rival publishers' blogs, as "repellent" in the Telegraph{{cite news|last=Oborne|first=Peter|title=The moral decay of our society is as bad at the top as the bottom|url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100100708/the-moral-decay-of-our-society-is-as-bad-at-the-top-as-the-bottom/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812192831/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100100708/the-moral-decay-of-our-society-is-as-bad-at-the-top-as-the-bottom/|archive-date=12 August 2011|access-date=5 September 2011|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=11 August 2011|author-link=Peter Oborne|location=London}} and "a latter-day Ab Fab manual" in The Guardian.{{cite news|last=Flynn|first=Paul|title=Why Absolutely Fabulous now looks absolutely prescient|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/29/absolutely-fabulous-prescient-ab-fab|access-date=5 September 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|date=29 August 2011|location=London|archive-date=9 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909104318/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/29/absolutely-fabulous-prescient-ab-fab|url-status=live}} A 'well-thumbed' copy of the supplement was found when rebel forces broke into Colonel Gaddafi's Tripoli compound during the 2011 Libyan Civil War.{{cite news|last=Walker|first=Portia|title=Under the broken city, families explore Gaddafi's warren|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/under-the-broken-city-families-explore-gaddafis-warren-2345260.html|access-date=15 October 2012|newspaper=The Independent|date=11 August 2011|location=London|archive-date=1 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001002728/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/under-the-broken-city-families-explore-gaddafis-warren-2345260.html|url-status=live}}

In September 2021, an Arabic version of HTSI was launched by Othman Al Omeir, founder of Elaph online newspaper.{{cite news|title=Elaph launches How To Spend It Arabic, in association with Financial Times|url=https://aboutus.ft.com/press_release/elaph-launches-how-to-spend-it-arabic-in-association|access-date=6 November 2021|work=Financial Times|date=16 June 2021|archive-date=6 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106180927/https://aboutus.ft.com/press_release/elaph-launches-how-to-spend-it-arabic-in-association|url-status=live}} HTSI Arabic is published in London.

The name of the magazine was changed in 2022 from How to Spend It to HTSI.

Editorial stance

File:Vladimir Putin with The Financial Times (2019-06-27) 07.jpg in controversial interview by Lionel Barber and Henry Foy of the Financial Times in 2019]]

The FT advocates free markets, and is in favour of globalisation. During the 1980s, it supported Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan's monetarist policies.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021|reason=Previous source was an opinion piece}} It has supported the UK Labour Party in the past, including at the general election in 1992 when Neil Kinnock was Labour leader. The FT{{'s}} editorials tend to be pro-European.{{cite news |title=FT at 125: The world in focus |author=Lionel Barber |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6fce6e6e-711c-11e2-9d5c-00144feab49a.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6fce6e6e-711c-11e2-9d5c-00144feab49a.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|newspaper=Financial Times |date= 12 February 2013|access-date=12 February 2013}} The FT was firmly opposed to the Iraq War. Due to its advocacy of free markets and free trade, it is often identified as centrist{{cite web |last=Royale |first=Oxford |date=28 March 2018 |title=Black and White and Read All Over: A Guide to British Newspapers |url=https://www.oxford-royale.com/articles/a-guide-to-british-newspapers/ |access-date=16 March 2023 |website=Oxford Royale Academy |language=en-US |archive-date=17 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317095302/https://www.oxford-royale.com/articles/a-guide-to-british-newspapers/ |url-status=live }} to centre-right{{cite book |last=Schaeffner |first=Christina |title=Political Discourse, Media and Translation. |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Pub |isbn=978-1-4438-1793-6 |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |oclc=827209128}} in its political positions.

The modern FT is a product of a merger of two smaller newspapers in 1945; since that time, the paper had backed the Conservatives fairly consistently, but Labour's tacking to the centre, combined with the Conservatives' embrace of Euroscepticism, led the FT to reverse course and back Labour from 1992 until 2010, when the FT returned to the Conservative Party. Euroscepticism further drove a wedge between the FT and the Conservatives in 2019, when the paper refused to make an endorsement, opposed to Labour's socialist economic policies (for wanting to "reverse, not revise, the Thatcherite revolution of the 1980s") and the Conservatives' commitment to a hard Brexit.{{cite web |date=6 December 2019 |title=Britain's fateful election offers no good choices |url=https://www.ft.com/content/d4868a48-169d-11ea-9ee4-11f260415385 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/d4868a48-169d-11ea-9ee4-11f260415385 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |access-date=2 March 2021 |website=Financial Times}}{{Cite book |last1=Deacon |first1=David |title=The British General Election of 2019 |date=2021 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74254-6_10 |pages=347–385 |editor-last=Ford |editor-first=Robert |editor1-link=Robert Ford (academic)|access-date=13 January 2024 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-74254-6_10 |isbn=978-3-030-74254-6 |last2=Smith |first2=David |last3=Wring |first3=Dominic |chapter=Enduring Brands: The Press |editor2-last=Bale |editor2-first=Tim |editor3-last=Jennings |editor3-first=Will |editor4-last=Surridge |editor4-first=Paula}}

In respect of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FT commentator Martin Wolf expressed support for Ukraine.{{cite news |last=Wolf |first=Martin |date=28 February 2023 |title=The west must give Ukraine what it needs |url=https://www.ft.com/content/53804bd6-7e07-45f5-b650-d5a841db2c50 |work=The Financial Times |location= |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-date=5 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505131719/https://www.ft.com/content/53804bd6-7e07-45f5-b650-d5a841db2c50 |url-status=live }}

Two years before the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the FT offered an interview to the Russian President Vladimir Putin.{{cite news|last= Barber|first= Lionel|date= 7 April 2021|title= Did Vladimir Putin win Cold War 2.0?|url= https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/putin-and-the-liberal-west/|work= The New European|location= |access-date= 1 May 2013|archive-date= 28 January 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220128104256/https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/putin-and-the-liberal-west/|url-status= live}} The interview received praise, as it offered an unusual access to the Russian leader's thinking.{{cite news |last1= Laurenson|first1= Jack |last2=Kupfer |first2= Matthew |date= 1 July 2019 |title= Financial Times interview with Putin sparks backlash, debate|url=https://archive.kyivpost.com/world/financial-times-interview-with-putin-sparks-backlash-debate.html |work=Kyiv Post |location= |access-date=1 May 2023}} President Putin used the interview to state his opinions about the value of liberal democracy.{{cite news |last=Bennetts |first=Marc |date=28 June 2019 |title=Western liberalism is obsolete, warns Putin, ahead of May meeting |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/27/putin-skripal-attack-should-not-affect-uk-russia-relations |work=The Guardian |location= |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-date=13 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213024354/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/27/putin-skripal-attack-should-not-affect-uk-russia-relations |url-status=live }} The Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post accused the FT of asking President Putin softball questions, and said the interviewers failed to hold Putin to account.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=5 July 2019 |title=Dictators are obsolete |url=https://archive.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/editorial/dictators-are-obsolete.html |work=Kyiv Post |location= |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-date=25 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825200406/https://archive.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/editorial/dictators-are-obsolete.html |url-status=live }}

= United Kingdom politics =

class="wikitable floatright"

|+FT endorsements
(1979–2024)

|1979

| {{party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

1983

| {{party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

1987

| {{party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

1992

| {{party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

1997

| {{party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

2001

| {{party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

2005

| {{party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

2010

| {{party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

2015

| {{party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

2017

| {{party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}

2019

|

|No endorsement

2024

| {{party name with colour|Labour Party (UK)}}

In the 2010 general election, the FT was receptive to the Liberal Democrats' positions on civil liberties and political reform, and praised the then Labour Party leader Gordon Brown for his response to the global 2008 financial crisis, but on balance it backed the Conservatives, while questioning their tendency to Euroscepticism.{{cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE64304Z20100504 |title=Financial Times backs Conservatives |work=Reuters |access-date=28 February 2011 |date=4 May 2010 |archive-date=3 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103134750/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE64304Z20100504 |url-status=dead }}

In the 2015 general election, the FT called for the continuation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition that had governed for the previous five years.{{Cite news |date=30 April 2015 |title=General election: The compelling case for continuity in Britain |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e61ce174-ea94-11e4-96ec-00144feab7de |access-date=13 January 2024 |work=Financial Times}} In the 2017 general election, an FT editorial reluctantly backed Conservative Theresa May over Labour Jeremy Corbyn, while warning about her stance on immigration and the Eurosceptic elements in her party.{{cite news|title=Election 2017: The safer bet of a Conservative vote|url=https://www.ft.com/content/67949e4a-45e2-11e7-8d27-59b4dd6296b8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/67949e4a-45e2-11e7-8d27-59b4dd6296b8 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|website=Financial Times |date=31 May 2017 |access-date=1 June 2017}} The FT declared 2019 general election a "fateful election" that "offers no good choices".{{cite news |date=5 December 2019 |title=Britain's fateful election offers no good choices |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/d4868a48-169d-11ea-9ee4-11f260415385 |access-date=12 March 2023 |archive-date=1 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301134641/https://www.ft.com/content/d4868a48-169d-11ea-9ee4-11f260415385 |url-status=live }} In the 2024 general election, the FT endorsed the Labour Party again, expressing the need for a "fresh start", while cautioning "Labour's interventionist instincts and fervour for regulation".{{Cite news |last=board |first=The editorial |date=30 June 2024 |title=Britain needs a fresh start |url=https://www.ft.com/content/2290c1f7-a4cb-4fe1-9b69-b0c8ca17f070 |access-date=30 June 2024 |work=Financial Times}}

=United States politics=

In the 2008 United States presidential election, the Financial Times endorsed Barack Obama. While it raised concerns over hints of protectionism, it praised his ability to "engage the country's attention", his calls for a bipartisan politics, and his plans for "comprehensive health-care reform".{{cite news|title=Obama is the better choice|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1d0b127c-a380-11dd-942c-000077b07658.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1d0b127c-a380-11dd-942c-000077b07658.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=Financial Times|access-date=22 April 2013}} The FT favoured Obama again in the 2012 United States presidential election.{{cite web |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f11742fa-2501-11e2-8924-00144feabdc0.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f11742fa-2501-11e2-8924-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|title=Obama the wiser bet for crisis-hit US|work=Financial Times|date=5 November 2012|access-date=5 November 2012}} The FT endorsed Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the 2016 United States presidential election, Joe Biden in the 2020 United States presidential election, and Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election.{{cite news |title=FT endorsement: For all her weaknesses, Clinton is the best hope |url=https://www.ft.com/content/f61b93c8-9f5a-11e6-891e-abe238dee8e2?tagToFollow=TnN0ZWluX1BOX0FGVE1fUE5fMzgwODQ2-UE4= |website=Financial Times |date=31 October 2016 |access-date=18 January 2019 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108125549/https://www.ft.com/content/f61b93c8-9f5a-11e6-891e-abe238dee8e2?tagToFollow=TnN0ZWluX1BOX0FGVE1fUE5fMzgwODQ2-UE4= |url-status=live }}{{cite web|date=5 November 2020|title=A historic US vote provides few certainties|url=https://www.ft.com/content/76c3db04-75e7-462d-82e0-94473e6a354d |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/76c3db04-75e7-462d-82e0-94473e6a354d |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|access-date=2 March 2021|website=Financial Times}}{{Cite news |last=board |first=The editorial |date=1 November 2024 |title=America's fateful choice between Trump and Harris |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3db1db35-f536-4efc-b463-a1fc98a785b0?accessToken=zwAGJd9TnSBIkc89sds19TZO_NO0Y6H8mKeFsA.MEYCIQC0EEXu7TcBDz5__5zP6fv9FbbcnwuZPE6JzoUL-WsNTAIhAJzSJKBfj2ywhBMCh4kyMlBr6c5A4BSinfhW0TQXraD6&sharetype=gift&token=66e83c17-c218-4800-8698-5d3a2df00274 |access-date=1 November 2024 |work=Financial Times}}

Indices

File:Indices Financial Times.jpg, 2019]]

The Financial Times collates and publishes a number of financial market indices, which reflect the changing value of their constituent parts. The longest-running of these was the former Financial News Index, started on 1 July 1935 by the Financial News. The FT published a similar index; this was replaced by the Financial News Index — which was then renamed the Financial Times (FT) Index — on 1 January 1947. The index started as an index of industrial shares, and companies with dominant overseas interests were excluded, such as the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (later BP), British-American Tobacco, Lever Brothers (later Unilever) and Shell. The oil and financial sectors were included decades later.The Stock Market, John Littlewood.

The FTSE All-Share Index, the first of the FTSE series of indices, was created in 1962, comprising the largest 594 UK companies by market capitalisation. The letters F-T-S-E represented that FTSE was a joint venture between the Financial Times (F-T) and the London Stock Exchange (S-E). On 13 February 1984 the FTSE 100 was introduced, representing about eighty per cent of the London Stock Exchange's value. FTSE Group was made an independent company in 1995. The first of several overseas offices was opened in New York City in 1999; Paris followed in early 2000, Hong Kong, Frankfurt and San Francisco in 2001, Madrid in 2002 and Tokyo in 2003.

Other well-known FTSE indices include the FTSE 350 Index, the FTSE SmallCap Index, the FTSE AIM UK 50 Index and FTSE AIM 100 Index as well as the FTSE AIM All-Share Index for stocks, and the FTSE UK Gilt Indices for government bonds.

In 2021, the Financial Times started publishing three multi-asset indexes with Wilshire Associates covering combinations of the top five cryptocurrencies.

People

In July 2006, the FT announced a "New Newsroom" project to integrate the newspaper more closely with FT.com. At the same time it announced plans to cut the editorial staff from 525 to 475. In August 2006 it announced that all the required job cuts had been achieved through voluntary layoffs. A number of former FT journalists have gone on to high-profile jobs in journalism, politics and business. Robert Thomson, previously the paper's US managing editor, was the editor of The Times and is now the chief executive of News Corporation. Will Lewis, a former New York correspondent and News Editor for the FT, edited The Daily Telegraph and The Wall Street Journal. Dominic Lawson went on to become editor of the Sunday Telegraph until he was dismissed in 2005. Andrew Adonis, a former education correspondent, became an adviser on education to the then British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and was given a job as an education minister and a seat in the House of Lords after the 2005 election. Ed Balls became chief economic adviser to the Treasury, working closely with Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer (or finance minister), before being elected a Member of Parliament in 2005, and became Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in July 2007. Bernard Gray, a former defence correspondent and Lex columnist, was chief executive of the publishing company CMP before becoming chief executive of TSL Education, publisher of the Times Educational Supplement. David Jones, at one time the FT{{'}}s Night Editor, then became Head of IT. He was a key figure in the newspaper's transformation from hot metal to electronic composition and then onto full-page pagination in the 1990s. He went on to become Head of Technology for the Trinity Mirror Group.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

Sir Geoffrey Owen was the editor of the Financial Times from 1981 to 1990. He joined the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the London School of Economics as Director of Business Policy in 1991 and was appointed Senior Fellow, Institute of Management, in 1997. He continues his work there.{{cite web |url=http://www.lse.ac.uk/management/people/gowen.aspx |title=Directory of the Management Department at the London School of Economics |publisher=London School of Economics |date=30 June 2014 |access-date=15 July 2014 |archive-date=6 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106223036/http://www.lse.ac.uk/management/people/gowen.aspx }} During his tenure at the FT he had to deal with rapid technological change and issues related to it, for example repetitive strain injury (RSI), which affected dozens of FT journalists, reporters and staff in the late 1980s.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

Editors

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

:1889: Douglas MacRae

:1890: William Ramage Lawson

:1892: Sydney Murray

:1896: A. E. Murray

:1909: C. H. Palmer

:1924: D. S. T. Hunter

:1937: Archibald Chisholm

:1940: Albert George Cole

:1945: Hargreaves Parkinson

:1949: Sir Gordon Newton

:1973: Fredy Fisher

:1981: Sir Geoffrey Owen

:1991: Richard Lambert

:2001: Andrew Gowers

:2006: Lionel Barber

:2020: Roula Khalaf

{{div col end}}

See also

References

{{reflist}}