Almar Latour, publisher and executive vice president of the Dow Jones Media Group, sent out the following announcement on Friday:
Dear All,
Ed Finn, who joined Barron’s 24 years ago, will be leaving the publishing franchise later this month. For the past 22 years, Ed has served as editor of Barron’s. He has also been president for the last 19 years.
Jack Otter, editor of Barron’s Digital, will assume responsibility for all editorial functions as Interim Editor, Barron’s. Jack will report directly to me.
“We will all miss Ed’s pithy profundity,” said News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson. “He has a wit and a wisdom that have made for compelling, comprehensive business journalism over four decades. Ed is an inspired and inspiring individual, and we wish him the very best in the next phase of life’s journey.”
Singling out Barron’s greatest stories from the past two decades is tough – there are many to choose from. But two stories do stand out: Barron’s called the top of the dot com bubble by explaining why scores of newly minted Internet companies were about to collapse. Barron’s also raised questions about Bernard Madoff years before Federal prosecutors exposed his $65 billion fraud, the largest Ponzi scheme in history.
The core mission of Barron’s hasn’t changed since its creation in 1921: advising readers on where to place their money in a no-nonsense, direct style that calls the direction of a security or market. But the way Barron’s serves readers has changed significantly during Ed’s tenure, shifting to a business spanning print, web, mobile and events.
Ed launched Barrons.com in 1995, six months after he was named editor, turning Barron’s into a web pioneer among financial publications. Since then, Barrons.com has become one of largest paid financial websites in the world, helping to lift Barron’s total paid circulation to today’s record high of 441,000. Barron’s other innovations during Ed’s tenure have included market-leading coverage of exchange-traded funds, rankings of America’s top financial advisors, Barron’s Advisor Center, the quarterly Penta luxury magazine, an events business that now features 16 conferences a year, Barron’s Asia and, most recently, Barron’s NEXT, for millennial investors.
“The mark of a great leader is they leave a business in better shape than they found it,” said News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch. “Barron’s today is more robust editorially and commercially than it’s been over the course of its illustrious 96-year history and that’s a reflection of Ed’s leadership.”
“It has been the greatest honor of my career to lead Barron’s wonderful team of journalists and ad-sales professionals,” Finn said. “Together, we’ve proven that it’s possible to produce high-quality journalism and earn high returns. I wish everyone at News Corp., Dow Jones, and Barron’s nothing but the best.”
Finn began his Dow Jones career in 1980 as a writer at The Wall Street Journal. Subsequently, he worked as a senior editor at Forbes and as the editor of American Banker before returning to Dow Jones in 1993 as managing editor of Barron’s. He was named Barron’s editor in 1995 and president in 1998.
Finn holds a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree from Columbia University.
