Thorold Barker departs WSJ

Wall Street Journal editor in chief Emma Tucker sent out the following:

Dear All,

I’m writing to let you know that Thorold Barker will be leaving The Wall Street Journal after 15 years.

Thorold’s strong leadership and innovative approach have had a significant impact at the Journal. He joined in New York during the 2008 financial crisis to recreate Heard on the Street, turning it into the global commentary and analysis powerhouse it has become.

He moved to London in 2013 as Editor, Europe, Middle East and Africa and has led the region during a period of intense change, including Brexit and other challenges to European Union stability, terror attacks, the twin crisis of health and economics during Covid, instability in the Middle East and most recently, the Ukraine war. During that time he also created our thriving newsroom in Barcelona, which became the innovative new template for reimagining our Dow Jones Newswires coverage around the world.

More recently, as masthead editor in charge of the Journal’s global live events, Thorold raised the Journal’s ambition, boosted its on-stage impact and expanded the reach of the digital content. In particular, he took the CEO Council to new heights, dramatically enhancing the quality of the events and audience, while personally interviewing speakers including Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Christine Lagarde, Satya Nadella, Antony Blinken, Ana Botin, Rishi Sunak and David Attenborough.

“Thorold has had a profoundly positive impact. He reinvented Heard on the Street, ensuring that it became absolutely required reading for any business person seeking intelligent, compellingly written insight,” said Robert Thomson. “Then he showed true leadership in building our international reach and influence, making Dow Jones the pre-eminent global source of trusted news and analysis. And his work in transforming our conferences and building our CEO network has put The Wall Street Journal at the intellectual centre for the most powerful women and men in the world.”

“Few newsroom leaders have had the impact that Thorold Barker had during his decade and a half at the Journal,” said Almar Latour. “With his sharp intellect and entrepreneurial spirit, he reshaped our institution’s role on the world stage, overseeing insightful coverage and analysis on companies, markets and world events. His energetic presence and strategic wherewithal helped drive sharp growth of the CEO Council through his masterful on-stage interviews with luminaries, eliciting oft-unexpected revelations. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with him as a colleague.”

Reflecting on his tenure, Thorold shared, “I have loved my 15 years at the Journal. It has been an honor to work with such extraordinary talent in the newsroom to reimagine the Heard on the Street column, to lead the exceptional EMEA team during a period of intense change, and to work closely with our innovative editorial and commercial teams to take the CEO Council and other events to new heights. It is a bittersweet moment for me, but I am proud of everything we have achieved together and I am looking forward to what’s next.”

I would like to thank Thorold for his unwavering dedication to the Journal’s core mission and for all he accomplished during his tenure.