Simon Jack

Simon Jack was born on 10 May 1971 in London.{{Cite web|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/local-news/merchant-taylors-gave-confidence---6967431|title='Merchant Taylors gave me the confidence' – TV presenter Simon Jack|last=Echo|first=Liverpool|date=18 November 2010|website=liverpoolecho|access-date=13 February 2019}} He attended Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby, Merseyside, and graduated from St John's College, Oxford with a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.{{cite news|title=Breakfast: Simon Jack|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast/presenters/7727039.stm|accessdate=27 April 2016|publisher=BBC News|date=13 November 2008}} Of his time at the University of Oxford, Jack said: “I did the same degree as David Cameron. I was a contemporary of George Osborne. I knew him a little bit. He was well-known at university and his notoriety of his membership of certain clubs is well known – like the Bullingdon. I wasn't a member of any of those."

Before entering journalism, Jack worked for a decade as a corporate and investment banker in London, New York City and Bermuda. He has said that he neither liked the work, nor showed much ability at it.{{cite news|url=http://www.crosbyherald.co.uk/news/crosby-news/2010/11/18/merchant-taylors-gave-me-the-confidence-tv-presenter-simon-jack-68459-27671494/2/|title='Merchant Taylors gave me the confidence' – TV presenter Simon Jack|newspaper=Crosby Herald| first=Mark|last=Johnson|date=18 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114153600/http://www.crosbyherald.co.uk/news/crosby-news/2010/11/18/merchant-taylors-gave-me-the-confidence-tv-presenter-simon-jack-68459-27671494/2/|archive-date=14 January 2012}} In 2003 he joined the BBC's business and economics unit and since then has worked on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme and Radio 5 Live's Wake Up to Money. He has also presented business and financial podcasts for The Daily Telegraph.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}}

Jack was frequently seen on British television during the fortnight beginning on 7 September 2008 during which he reported for BBC News, the BBC News Channel and Working Lunch on the banking crisis that saw the Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the bailout of AIG and the Lloyds TSB takeover of HBOS. He was often seen reporting from the London Stock Exchange, Canary Wharf and outside the offices of HBOS and Lehman Brothers in London.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}}

Jack replaced Declan Curry as business presenter for BBC Breakfast in October 2008. In April 2010, he presented BBC Breakfast alongside Sian Williams while regular presenter Bill Turnbull followed the 2010 general election campaign trail. In September 2011, he left the BBC Breakfast team to join BBC Radio 4's Today.{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=Helen |title=Simon Jack joins Today |url=https://www.responsesource.com/bulletin/news/simon-jack-joins-today/ |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=ResponseSource |language=en}}

On 13 April 2015 Jack, whose father killed himself, appeared in a BBC Panorama series relating to the survivors of suicide which investigated why more middle-aged men kill themselves than any other group.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32231774|title=A silence that kills men|date=13 April 2015|publisher=BBC}}

On 5 February 2016, Jack was appointed the BBC's Business Editor, replacing the promoted Kamal Ahmed.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2016/simon-jack |title=Simon Jack appointed BBC's new Business Editor |publisher=BBC |date=5 February 2016}}

On 3 July 2023, Jack sat next to Dame Alison Rose, the chief executive of NatWest bank at the BBC Correspondents’ Charity Dinner.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/19/bank-chief-evening-with-bbc-journalist-farage-tweet-claim|website=Telegraph|title=Bank chief Dame Alison sat next to BBC journalist night before he tweeted claim about Nigel Farage|date=19 July 2023 |last1=Rayner |first1=Gordon }} The following day Jack claimed that Nigel Farage had his bank account at Coutts closed for falling "below the financial threshold required to hold an account".{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66097039|title=Nigel Farage bank account shut for falling below wealth limit|website=BBC News|date=4 July 2023 |access-date=4 July 2023}}{{Cite tweet |user=BBCSimonJack |number=1676161715526836225 |title=Nigel Farage fell below the financial threshold required to hold an account at Coutts}} However after submitting a subject access request in July, Farage published a 40-page internal document from Coutts, which contained minutes from a meeting of the bank's Wealth Reputational Risk Committee on 17 November 2022, describing Farage as a "disingenuous grifter" who promoted "xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views", and said his "views were at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation", with "risk factors including... controversial public statements which were felt to conflict with the bank’s purpose", whilst financially his account's "economic contribution is now sufficient to retain on a commercial basis”.{{cite web |title=Farage affair is 'a monumental PR disaster' for exclusive bank Coutts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/jul/20/farage-affair-is-a-monumental-pr-disaster-for-exclusive-bank-coutts |website=The Guardian |date=20 July 2023 |access-date=21 July 2023 |last1=Neate |first1=Rupert }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/18/coutts-records-undermine-claim-exiting-farage-not-political/|title=The dossier that blows apart the Coutts claims about closing Nigel Farage's account|website=The Telegraph|access-date=18 July 2023|date=18 July 2023}}{{Cite web |title=Sunak pledges crackdown on bank 'blacklisting' |url=https://www.ft.com/content/5b49a0bc-3f12-4cc4-bfe1-72372d57abfd |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=www.ft.com|date=19 July 2023 |last1=Venkataramakrishnan |first1=Siddharth |last2=Pickard |first2=Jim |last3=Morris |first3=Stephen }}

On 24 July 2023, Jack issued an apology to Farage on Twitter for the story. Farage accepted the apology. Jack said his story was "from a trusted and senior source. However, the information turned out to be incomplete and inaccurate."{{Cite news |date=2023-07-24 |title=Nigel Farage: BBC apologises to Farage over account closure story |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66288464 |access-date=2023-07-24}} On 25 July, Rose admitted to 'serious error of judgement' in discussing Farage's Coutts accounts with Jack, revealing that she had been the source of the story.{{cite web |title=NatWest boss 'made serious error of judgement' in discussing Farage bank accounts with BBC reporter |url=https://news.sky.com/story/natwest-boss-made-serious-error-of-judgement-in-discussing-farage-bank-accounts-with-bbc-reporter-12927366 |website=Sky News |access-date=25 July 2023}}

Jack lives in Notting Hill and is married to Suzy Barry,;{{Cite web|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/local-news/merchant-taylors-gave-confidence---6967431|title='Merchant Taylors gave me the confidence' – TV presenter Simon Jack|first=Liverpool|last=Echo|date=18 November 2010|website=liverpoolecho}} he is a son-in-law of the composer John Barry.{{cite news |date=31 January 2011 |title=Bond composer Barry dies aged 77 |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/entertainment-arts-12321610}}

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{{s-ttl|title=Business Editor: BBC News|years=2016–present}}

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Category:Living people

Category:Alumni of St John's College, Oxford

Category:English television presenters

Category:BBC newsreaders and journalists

Category:British business and financial journalists

Category:People educated at Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby

Category:1971 births