WSJ’s Brown is leaving publication

Ken Brown of The Wall Street Journal is leaving the news organization.

Brown oversaw the Journal’s climate coverage, plus financial risk and investigations. He helped put the Journal back on the map on climate change. The paper’s focus on money, solutions and technology drew in readers. Stories included investigations into dubious climate claims and the acceleration of the energy transition. He was the main Journal editor on the six-part Bad Bets podcast on the scandal involving Nikola and its founder Trevor Milton.

He also led investigations into problems at the nation’s biggest hospital landlord and into the cryptocurrency tether. He contributed to the Journal’s coverage of the presidential election.

While running the paper’s finance coverage in Asia, he launched the Journal’s award-winning coverage of the fraud at Malaysian investment fund 1MDB. He led deep dives into the Chinese property bubble and surging debt.

Brown also helped lead the Journal’s coverage of the financial crisis, winning multiple awards.

As an editor, Brown ran the paper’s Heard on the Street team, and its technology, telecom and real estate coverage. As a reporter, Ken covered financial scandals and collapses including Arthur Andersen, Enron, WorldCom and others.

He was a principal at Pzena Investment Management, a value-oriented investment firm. He has worked at the New York Times, Smart Money magazine and the Washington Post. He attended SUNY Binghamton and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.