FT’s Massoudi on looking for characters to tell stories

Arash Massoudi

Russell Sherman spoke with Financial Times corporate finance and deals editor Arash Massoudi about covering business on his “Press Profiles” podcast.

Massoudi broke the story about how the Saudi Arabian wealth fund bought 5 percent in Tesla even though he wasn’t actively covering the company by simply following the money. Tesla CEO Elon Musk eventually credited him for breaking the story during a trial.

He said he tries not to follow the ball that other journalists are following.

“There’s a lot more luck than people think in these things,” said Massoudi. “There is skill too.”

Massoudi said he applied for a job at the FT for three years before being accepted. He was working in the federal government.

“You can’t get complacent,” said Massoudi, noting that the imposter syndrome remains strong despite a decade in the field. He said talking with new sources energizes him to keep pushing. “I look for characters who are interesting,” he said. “…You try to shed life on them.”

To listen, go here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.