WSJ names new M&A reporter, new JPMorgan reporter, new Heard columnist

Wall Street Journal financial editor Charles Forelle sent out the following announcement on Tuesday afternoon:

Hi all,

It’s so awesome to see our great people take exciting jobs and to welcome new great people to the Journal family. I am thrilled to tell you about these moves:

Cara Lombardo is the new M&A reporter. Cara joined the Journal in 2017 on the Real-Time Desk and moved to the Deals team last year, covering activism. Her dominance of the beat is near-total. Caesars, Marriott, Newell, Campbell, Dollar Tree. If there’s an activist battle stirring, Cara’s the one to tell you about it. Surely everyone read her Gannett scoop. Cara is a phenomenal source-builder, and she carries a full quiver of corporate-finance skills (she was once a CPA). She is taking on a uniquely challenging and exhilarating beat, one that’s been held by a storied roster of great reporters, most recently the unstoppable Dana Mattioli. She’ll be a great addition. Cara continues to report to Deals Editor Dana Cimilluca, and she’ll continue to cover activism until a replacement is named. (Interested? Reach out to Dana C.)

David Benoit moves to the banking team, where he’ll write widely on the banking industry. Among his responsibilities will be covering the country’s largest bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, a perch that affords a vantage across all of Wall Street. (And also affords the chance to peer in on a fascinating CEO succession race.) Dave comes to the job from the Financial Enterprise team, where he recently dug in to the accounting travails at GE. If you missed it, also check out his dissection this week of the corporate drama at Arconic. Before that, Dave was the founding reporter on the activism beat, where his relentless scoops and his inside-the-boardroom chronicles defined an era of dealmaking. He was part of the team that won a Loeb Award for coverage of the Dow-DuPont merger in 2016. Dave reports to Banking Editor Marie Beaudette.

Lauren Silva Laughlin joins us as Senior Columnist for Heard on the Street. Lauren comes from Reuters Breakingviews, where she wrote about energy and a whole lot else from her base in Dallas. She’s also written for Fortune and other publications. Lauren is an omnivorous financial thinker (recent work: shale drillers, airlines, Levi’s, a whole bunch of activist deals, coal, PG&E, P&G and GE) squarely in tune with Heard. As senior columnist, Lauren is vital to our plans to grow the section. She’ll cover energy and industrial companies, and she’ll pitch in on editing duties as needed. Lauren started yesterday and already has her first byline. Lauren reports to Heard Editor Spencer Jakab.