Jon Slade takes over the top job at the Financial Times
Jon Slade today becomes chief executive of the Financial Times,into the top job after two decades at the paper, and 30 years in the media industry.
He is replacing long-serving chief executive John Ridding, who announced his decision to step down last year after almost 20 years in post and over three decades with the FT, including as an award-winning foreign correspondent.
Slade’s appointment was announced in March of this year. The new boss joined the FT in 2002 and has served as its chief commercial officer since 2014, during a period of significant change for the business and the broader media industry.
He has been responsible for over three-quarters of the FT Group’s annual revenues, which topped £540m last year, including advertising, circulation, subscriptions, and consultancy.
He played a key role in the turnaround of the group’s ad business and the expansion of Financial Times strategies, its consulting arm.
“I am incredibly proud to become chief executive of the FT, a dynamic and iconic brand that has evolved over 137 years, but never lost sight of its mission”, Slade said. “There has rarely been a more consequential period for professional news media.”
In a message to staff earlier this year, Nikkei chief executive Naotoshi Okadad – whose Japanese media group acquired the FT in 2015 – said Slade had “both the leadership skills and commercial acumen to take the FT Group to new heights”, citing his understanding of the interface between business and technology.
Ridding, who led the FT through its sale to Nikkei and oversaw a decade of consistent growth in readership and revenue, said last year that a “new phase of disruption is under way, with challenges ranging from generative AI to generational change and new reader habits and demands. So, this feels like a good moment for a new phase of leadership”.