The Financial Times is holding a “beauty contest” to find its next editor after Lionel Barber, reports Mark Di Stefano of BuzzFeed.
Di Stefano writes, “BuzzFeed News has learned that Barber has taken a select group of editors on week-long trips to Tokyo to meet with executives at the financial publisher Nikkei.
“It’s understood that those who accompanied Barber for the so-called ‘beauty contest’ included US managing editor Gillian Tett, editorial director Robert Shrimsley, managing editor James Lamont, deputy editor Roula Khalaf, news editor Peter Spiegel, and Alec Russell, editor of the lucrative FT Weekend.
“‘Lionel wants to introduce the next generation to Nikkei,’ said one senior FT editor with knowledge of the process. ‘He’s running a beauty contest and it’s hard not to think it’s because he’s ready to hand the baton on.’
“Barber, 62, has been in control of the FT since 2005 and successfully led the newspaper through a digital transition, which included putting up a hard paywall around the website. The latest figures from the privately owned company show it has 650,000 paid subscribers to the FT.com.”
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