FT hires Thomas as a business columnist

Helen Thomas

The Financial Times has hired Helen Thomas as business columnist.

She will start on March 1.

Thomas returns to the FT after eight years having spent four years at BBC Newsnight, where she was business editor, and three years at The Wall Street Journal, writing for its “Heard on the Street” column.

“Helen is an exceptional journalist and her experience and knowledge of the UK business landscape is second to none,” said FT editor Roula Khalaf, commenting on the hire.

“The post-pandemic business environment will look radically different than before the start of the coronavirus crisis, and the FT will play an important role in helping corporate leaders and entrepreneurs navigate and thrive in the new normal,” she continued.

Thomas added: “I’m delighted to be rejoining the Financial Times. Through the twists and turns of global business and politics, the FT has gone from strength to strength and I can’t wait to be part of the very talented team there again.”

Thomas first joined the Financial Times in 2004 and was part of the team that pioneered the launch of the FT’s popular markets blog FT Alphaville. She later wrote for the Lex column in New York, covering the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis.

She also held the roles of U.S. M&A correspondent and mining correspondent.

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.