Financial Times facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Financial Times

Cover of the 22 February 2021 issue
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet digital
Owner(s)	The Financial Times Ltd. (Nikkei Inc.)
Founder(s)	James Sheridan
Founded	9 January 1888; 137 years ago (1888-01-09)
Political alignment	Liberalism Conservative liberalism Centre to centre-right
Language	English
Headquarters	Bracken House London, England
Circulation	109,181 (as of March 2024)
Sister newspapers	Nikkei Asia
ISSN	0307-1766

The Financial Times (often called the FT) is a famous British newspaper. It comes out every day and focuses on important news about business and money. You can read it as a large printed newspaper (called a broadsheet) or online. The FT is based in London, England. It is owned by a Japanese company called Nikkei. The newspaper has offices in Britain, the United States, and Europe.

In 2015, a company called Pearson sold the FT to Nikkei for about £844 million (which is about $1.32 billion US dollars). Pearson had owned the FT since 1957. By 2019, the FT had one million paying readers. Most of these readers (three-quarters) read the newspaper online. By 2023, it had grown to 1.3 million readers, with 1.2 million being digital subscribers. The FT is known for its deep focus on business news and how the economy works. It doesn't usually report on general news. The newspaper also gives out an annual book award. It also picks a "Person of the Year".

The FT started in January 1888 as the London Financial Guide. A month later, it changed its name to the Financial Times. It was first sold around London by James Sheridan. He and his brother, along with Horatio Bottomley, wanted to report on city business. They were competing with another paper called the Financial News. These two newspapers competed for about 50 years. In 1945, they joined together. This merger was led by Brendan Bracken. It made the FT one of the biggest business newspapers in the world.

As the world became more connected, the FT grew. It started adding opinion articles, special reports, political cartoons, readers' letters, book reviews, and articles about technology and global politics. The FT is easy to spot because it's printed on light-pink (salmon) paper. It also has a lifestyle magazine called FT Magazine, a weekend edition called FT Weekend, and other special publications.

The Financial Times believes in economic liberalism. This means it supports free trade and free markets. Since it started, it has supported liberal democracy. It favors classic liberal ideas and policies from governments around the world. The news team at the FT works independently from its opinion section. The FT is seen as a newspaper of record, meaning it's a reliable source for important news. Because of its long history of writing about the economy, the FT publishes many financial indexes. The most famous one is the FTSE All-Share Index. The FT is usually read by people who work in offices, are well-educated, and understand money matters. Because of this, the FT is often seen as a centrist to centre-right newspaper. The Financial Times main office is in Bracken House in London.

History of the Financial Times

The front page of the Financial Times on 13 February 1888

The FT first launched as the London Financial Guide on January 10, 1888. It changed its name to the Financial Times on February 13 of the same year. The newspaper said it was a friend to "The Honest Financier, the Bona Fide Investor, the Respectable Broker, the Genuine Director, and the Legitimate Speculator." It started as a four-page newspaper. Its readers were people in the financial world of the City of London. Its only competitor was the Financial News, which was a bit older (started in 1884).

On January 2, 1893, the FT started printing on light pink paper. This was to make it different from the Financial News, which had a similar name. At that time, it was cheaper to print on unbleached paper. Today, it costs more because the paper has to be specially dyed.

After 57 years of competition, the Financial Times and the Financial News joined together in 1945. This was done by Brendan Bracken. They formed one six-page newspaper. The Financial Times had more readers, but the Financial News had many talented writers. The famous Lex column also came from the Financial News.

Gordon Newton became the editor in 1949. He started a new policy of hiring new university graduates directly as trainee journalists. Many of these journalists went on to have important careers in journalism and public life in Britain. Nigel Lawson, who later became a top government official, was one of them. Pearson, a large company, bought the newspaper in 1957.

Over the years, the newspaper grew in size and covered more topics. It sent reporters to cities all over the world. This showed how the world economy was becoming more connected. As trade and money flows between countries grew in the 1970s, the FT started to expand internationally. This was helped by new technology and English becoming the main language for international business.

On January 1, 1979, the first FT (Continental Europe edition) was printed outside the UK, in Frankfurt, Germany. Printing in the U.S. began in July 1985. Since then, the FT has become a global newspaper. It is printed in 22 places and has five international editions for the UK, Europe, the U.S., Asia, and the Middle East.

The European edition is sold across Europe and Africa. It is printed Monday to Saturday in five centers in Europe. It reports on news about the European Union, the euro, and European companies. In 1994, the FT launched a luxury lifestyle magazine called How To Spend It. In 2009, it launched a website for the magazine. On May 13, 1995, the Financial Times group started its first online presence with FT.com. This website gave a summary of news from around the world. In February 1996, it added stock prices. The website started charging for subscriptions in 2002. FT.com is one of the few news websites in the UK that successfully gets money from individual subscriptions.

In 1997, the FT launched a U.S. edition. It was printed in several U.S. cities. In September 1998, the FT became the first UK newspaper to sell more copies outside the UK than inside. In 2000, the Financial Times started a German-language edition called Financial Times Deutschland. It had a news team in Hamburg. This German paper closed in 2012. The Financial Times also launched a new weekly section for the fund management industry on February 4, 2002. This section, called FTfm, is still published every Monday. It is the world's most widely read publication for fund management. Since 2005, the FT has sponsored the annual Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.

The former London offices of the Financial Times at One Southwark Bridge

On April 23, 2007, the FT updated its newspaper and introduced a new slogan: "We Live in Financial Times." In 2007, the FT started a "metered paywall." This meant visitors to its website could read a limited number of free articles each month before they had to pay. Four years later, the FT launched its HTML5 mobile internet app. Now, many people read the FT on their smartphones and tablets. In 2012, the number of digital readers passed the number of print readers for the first time. Almost half of the FT's money came from subscriptions, not just advertising.

The FT has been available on Bloomberg Terminal since 2010. In July 2015, Pearson sold the Financial Times Group to Nikkei, Inc. for £844 million (about $1.32 billion US dollars). In 2016, the Financial Times bought a large share in Alpha Grid, a media company that makes branded content. In 2018, the Financial Times bought a large share in Longitude, a company that provides research services. These investments helped the FT grow in new business areas.

In 2020, an opinion article by an FT reporter was removed from the website. This caused a discussion about whether the newspaper was truly independent from outside political pressure. The editor of the FT, Roula Khalaf, said the article was removed because it had several factual errors.

Investigative Journalism: The Wirecard Story

In January 2019, the FT started publishing a series of investigative articles. These articles looked into suspicions of fraud at a German payments company called Wirecard. The FT's reporting led to a big drop in Wirecard's share price.

On June 22, 2020, after 18 months of investigations, Wirecard announced that €1.9 billion of cash reported in its accounts "may not exist." The company later went out of business. This showed the importance of the FT's investigative journalism.

Who Reads the Financial Times?

The Financial Times is considered a very important newspaper for business leaders. A survey found that 36% of top financial decision-makers read the Financial Times. This is more than its main rival, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The Economist, which was once partly owned by the FT, is read by 32%. The FT's magazine The Banker is also important, reaching 24% of these readers. In 2010, the FT was seen as the most trustworthy publication for news about money and the economy among professional investors worldwide.

What's Inside the Financial Times?

The FT is usually split into two main parts. The first part covers news from the UK and around the world. It also has opinion articles from FT journalists like Martin Wolf and Gillian Tett. You can also find opinion pieces from important leaders, politicians, and experts. The second part has financial information and news about companies and markets. Even though it's mainly a financial newspaper, it also includes TV listings, weather, and other more relaxed articles. In 2021 and 2022, the FT started focusing more on the cryptocurrency industry. It launched a Digital Assets Dashboard and a newsletter about digital money. It also hired more journalists to cover this area. About 110 of its 475 journalists work outside the United Kingdom.

The Lex Column

The Lex column is a special daily feature found on the back page of the first section. It offers analysis and opinions on global economics and finance. The FT says Lex helps set the agenda for important discussions. The column first appeared on October 1, 1945. The name might come from Lex Mercatoria, a Latin phrase meaning "merchant law." It was created for the Financial News in the 1930s and moved to the Financial Times when the two newspapers merged.

Many people who worked on Lex later had successful careers in business and government. These include Nigel Lawson, a former top government official, and Richard Lambert, a former director of the CBI.

FT Weekend

The FT publishes a special Saturday edition called the Financial Times Weekend. It includes international economic and political news, sections on Companies & Markets, Life & Arts, House & Home, and the FT Magazine.

How to Spend It Magazine

How to Spend It (HTSI) is a weekly magazine that comes with FT Weekend. It was started by Julia Carrick. The articles in HTSI are about luxury goods like yachts, mansions, expensive apartments, fancy watches (horlogerie), haute couture fashion, and automobiles. It also has articles about fashion, gardening, food, hotels, and travel. How to Spend It began in 1967 as a one-page feature in the newspaper.

Some people were surprised when the magazine launched an online version in 2009. This was during a time when many people were struggling financially. The magazine has been called "repellent" by some other newspapers. In September 2021, an Arabic version of HTSI was launched in London.

What the Financial Times Believes In

Russian president Vladimir Putin in an interview by Lionel Barber and Henry Foy of the Financial Times in 2019

The FT supports free markets and globalization. This means it believes in open trade and economies. In the 1980s, it supported the economic policies of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. It has supported the UK Labour Party in the past, for example, in the 1992 election. The FT's opinion articles usually support closer ties with Europe. The FT was strongly against the Iraq War. Because it supports free markets and free trade, it is often seen as a centrist to centre-right newspaper.

The modern FT was formed when two smaller newspapers merged in 1945. Since then, the paper has generally supported the Conservatives. However, when the Labour Party moved more towards the center, and the Conservatives became more against Europe, the FT changed its support to Labour from 1992 until 2010. In 2010, the FT went back to supporting the Conservative Party. In the 2019 election, the paper did not officially support any party. It was against Labour's economic plans and the Conservatives' strong stance on leaving the European Union.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, FT writer Martin Wolf showed support for Ukraine. Two years before the invasion, the FT interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin. This interview was praised because it gave a rare look into the Russian leader's thoughts. President Putin used the interview to share his opinions on liberal democracy.

UK Politics and the FT

In the 2010 general election, the FT liked the Liberal Democrats' ideas on freedom and political changes. It also praised the then-Labour leader Gordon Brown for how he handled the global financial crisis. But overall, it supported the Conservatives, even though it questioned their views on Europe.

In the 2015 general election, the FT wanted the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government to continue. In the 2017 general election, the Financial Times reluctantly supported Conservative Theresa May over Labour's Jeremy Corbyn. It did warn about her views on immigration and some anti-Europe ideas in her party. For the 2019 general election, the Financial Times said it was a "fateful election" with "no good choices."

US Politics and the FT

In the 2008 US presidential election, the Financial Times supported Barack Obama. It had some worries about his ideas on trade, but it praised his ability to get the country's attention. It also liked his calls for cooperation between political parties and his plans for healthcare reform. The FT supported Obama again in the 2012 election. The FT also supported Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election and Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Who Owns the Financial Times?

The FT has been owned by Nikkei since 2015.

On July 23, 2015, Nikkei, Inc. agreed to buy the Financial Times Group from Pearson plc. Pearson had owned it since 1957. The sale was for £844 million (about $1.32 billion US dollars). The deal was completed on November 30, 2015. Pearson kept the rights to publish books under the FT Press name. Until August 2015, the FT group also owned 50% of The Economist magazine. This share was sold to the Agnelli family for £469 million.

The Financial Times Group also has a part called FT Specialist. This part provides special information on different areas of finance. It publishes magazines like The Banker, Money Management, and Financial Adviser. It also publishes fDi Intelligence and Professional Wealth Management (PWM). In 2013, FT Specialist bought a large share in a medical publisher called Endpoints News.

The Financial Times Group also acquired Money Media, which is an online news site for the industry. It also bought Exec-Appointments, an online site for executive job openings. The FT Group used to own a part of Business Standard Ltd in India, which publishes the Business Standard. It sold this share in 2008. The group also publishes America's Intelligence Wire, a daily general news service.

The Financial Times' Financial Publishing division provides print and online content for different financial audiences. Examples include: Investors Chronicle, a personal finance magazine; "FT Money", a weekly personal finance section in "FT Weekend"; FT Wealth, a magazine for very rich people; and FTfm, a weekly review of the global fund management industry.

FT Knowledge is a related company that offers educational products. FT Knowledge has offered a course called "Introducing the City" since 2000. This course includes lectures and events. The Financial Times also had a business game called "In the Pink." Players pretended to be a Chief Executive, and the goal was to make the most profit. The winner received a real money prize of £10,000.

In 2019, the Financial Times announced it was investing in Sifted. This is a digital news site that covers European startups.

Financial Indexes from the FT

A selection of FT market indices, 2019

The Financial Times collects and publishes many financial market indices. These show how the value of different parts of the market changes. The oldest of these was the Financial News Index, started in 1935. The FT had a similar index, but it was replaced by the Financial News Index in 1947. This was then renamed the Financial Times (FT) Index.

The FTSE All-Share Index was created in 1962. It includes the largest 594 UK companies. The letters F-T-S-E stand for Financial Times (F-T) and the London Stock Exchange (S-E), because it was a joint project between them. On February 13, 1984, the FTSE 100 was introduced. This index represents about 80% of the value of the London Stock Exchange. FTSE Group became its own company in 1995. It opened offices in New York City, Paris, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, San Francisco, Madrid, and Tokyo.

Other well-known FTSE indexes include the FTSE 350 Index, the FTSE SmallCap Index, and the FTSE AIM All-Share Index for stocks. There are also FTSE UK Gilt Indices for government bonds. In 2021, the Financial Times started publishing three new indexes with Wilshire Associates. These cover combinations of the top five cryptocurrencies.

Editors of the Financial Times

See also

In Spanish: Financial Times para niños

• Business journalism
• Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award
• Financial Times Person of the Year
• List of newspapers in the United Kingdom
• TNW (website)
• Periodical literature