NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--News Corp announced today the appointment of Almar Latour as the new Chief Executive Officer of Dow Jones and Publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Latour, who is currently Publisher for Barron’s Group and Executive Vice President at Dow Jones, will assume the post with the departure of William Lewis, effective May 15. The Barron’s Group portfolio includes Barron’s, MarketWatch, Dow Jones Wealth and Asset Management group, Mansion Global and Financial News.
Dow Jones, a leading global provider of news and business information, has been notably successful in the digital growth of its businesses, including the Journal, Barron’s and MarketWatch, among others.
Dow Jones digital-only subscribers grew 17% year-over-year as of the end of 2019, and total consumer subscriptions achieved a record 3.5 million in February. The Journal crossed the 2 million digital subscriber mark in February, and Barron’s subscribers also hit a record.
Dow Jones Professional Information Business has also been setting records in recent years, with its Risk & Compliance product experiencing over 20% revenue growth for 12 straight quarters through the end of 2019.
“Almar Latour is patently well-equipped to helm the world’s pre-eminent journalism, business analysis and professional content company,” said Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News Corp. “Over nearly a quarter century at The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones, Almar has ascended from roles as a news assistant and staff reporter, becoming a bureau chief and managing editor, and more recently serving as an editor-in-chief, executive editor and publisher. He has shown distinguished leadership, editorially and commercially, and brings a deep understanding of digital challenges and opportunities. Almar is a worthy successor to Will Lewis, from whom he will inherit a wonderfully talented team and a business that is exceeding records for digital subscriptions quarter-after-quarter. The Professional Information Business has also been revivified and is now a formidable engine for robust growth.”
“I'd like to thank Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch and Robert Thomson for their trust -- and for their deep and continued support for and investment in quality journalism and the national and international institution that is Dow Jones,” said Mr. Latour. “Our role is more important than ever before. Our millions of readers and users in the U.S. and beyond are all faced with uncertainty in time ahead and our unique brand of factual news and analysis serves to help them make decisions in business, finance and personal life. Will Lewis and the team have left Dow Jones in great shape. We are well positioned to take The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch, Newswires, Factiva and our other brands to more people everywhere and continue -- and accelerate -- our growth. As always, our mission is to help people put the truth to good ends.”
About Almar Latour
Key accomplishments of Almar Latour include:
- Turning around Barron’s Group to achieve record audience, revenue and membership growth;
- Growing subscriptions at Barron’s Group sharply;
- More than quadrupling the digital audience at Barron’s and MarketWatch over the past four years;
- Led the transformation of WSJ.com into a modern digital operation, setting the stage for its first 1 million subscriptions.
Timeline of Almar Latour’s career:
1996-1997 Reporter, Central European Economic Review
1997-2006 Bureau Chief and Staff Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
2007-2009 Managing Editor, WSJ.com
2009-2012 Editor-in-Chief, The Journal and Dow Jones Newswires in Asia-Pacific
2013-2015 Executive Editor, The Journal
2016-2020 EVP, Dow Jones; Member of the Dow Jones Executive Committee
2016-2020 Publisher, Dow Jones Media Group; Barron’s Group
Mr. Latour, a native of The Netherlands, is a resident of New York, NY.
About News Corp
News Corp (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. The company comprises businesses across a range of media, including: news and information services, subscription video services in Australia, book publishing and digital real estate services. Headquartered in New York, News Corp operates primarily in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, and its content and other products and services are distributed and consumed worldwide. More information is available at: http://www.newscorp.com.
Contacts
News Corp Investor Relations
Michael Florin
212-416-3363
[email protected]
News Corp Corporate Communications
Jim Kennedy
212-416-4064
[email protected]
