Thomson Reuters facts for kids
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Office at Bay Adelaide Centre, Toronto
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| Public | |
| Traded as | |
| Industry | Mass media |
| Predecessors |
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| Founded | 17 April 2008 |
| Headquarters |
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Canada
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Revenue |  US$6.794 billion (2023) |
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Operating income
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US$2.332 billion (2023) |
| US$2.695 billion (2023) |
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| Total assets |  US$18.68 billion (2023) |
| Total equity | US$11.06 billion (2023) |
| Owner | The Woodbridge Company (67.1%) |
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Number of employees
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25,600 (2023) |
| Divisions |
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| Subsidiaries | West |
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a big Canadian company that provides information all over the world. It was formed in Toronto, Canada, where its main office is located.
This company was created in 2008 when the Thomson Corporation bought a British company called Reuters Group. Most of Thomson Reuters is owned by The Woodbridge Company, which is a business owned by the Thomson family in Canada.
Contents
Exploring the History of Thomson Reuters
How Thomson Corporation Started
The Thomson company began in 1934. It was started by Roy Thomson in Ontario, Canada. His first business was publishing a newspaper called The Timmins Daily Press.
Later, in 1953, Thomson bought a Scottish newspaper called The Scotsman. He then moved to Scotland. He also got involved in television in Scotland in 1957. He even bought famous newspapers like the Sunday Times and Times.
Roy Thomson also expanded into other businesses. He bought an airline, Britannia Airways, in 1965. In 1971, he got into oil and gas exploration in the North Sea. After Roy Thomson passed away, the company sold its newspapers and TV businesses. It then focused on publishing, buying a legal publisher called Sweet & Maxwell in 1988. At this time, the company was known as International Thomson Organization Ltd (ITOL).
In 1989, ITOL joined with Thomson Newspapers to form the Thomson Corporation. In 1996, Thomson Corporation bought West Publishing, a company that provided legal research and services.
The Story of Reuters Group
Reuters was founded in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter in London. It started by sending stock market prices between cities. Reuter made a deal with the London Stock Exchange to share stock prices.
In 1865, Reuters was the first to report the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The company also helped develop the use of radio for news in 1923. Reuters grew quickly in the 1980s, offering more products and expanding its news network worldwide.
Thomson Buys Reuters: A Big Merger
The Thomson Corporation bought Reuters Group plc on April 17, 2008. This created the company we know today as Thomson Reuters. For a while, it had two parent companies listed on stock exchanges.
However, in 2009, Thomson Reuters simplified its structure. It stopped being listed on the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Now, it is listed only on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange.
In 2013, Thomson Reuters announced it would reduce its number of jobs. This was done to save money in its legal, financial, and risk departments.
Understanding Business Mergers and Fair Competition
When two big companies like Thomson and Reuters want to merge, governments need to check if it's fair. In the United States and Europe, special groups like the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission review these mergers. They make sure that the new, bigger company won't have too much control over the market. This helps keep things fair for other businesses and customers.
In 2008, both the U.S. and European groups approved the Thomson-Reuters merger. They asked the companies to sell off a few small parts of their business. This was to make sure that other companies could still compete fairly. These changes were very small compared to the size of the overall deal.
Later, in 2009, the European Commission looked into Thomson Reuters again. They wanted to make sure the company was not unfairly limiting how customers could use its real-time market data. Thomson Reuters agreed to make changes to ensure fair access for its customers.
How the Reuters Purchase Happened
Historically, no single person was allowed to own more than 15% of Reuters. This was part of the "Reuters Principles" to ensure its news was always unbiased. However, this rule was changed for the Thomson family's purchase.
The Thomson family's company, Woodbridge, now owns a majority of Thomson Reuters. The Chairman of the Reuters Founders Share Company explained that this rule was changed because Reuters was facing financial difficulties. He said that the future of Reuters was more important than the principles if the company wasn't strong enough to continue on its own. The Thomson family agreed to follow the Reuters Trust's principles regarding unbiased journalism.
What Thomson Reuters Does
How the Company Works
The current leader of Thomson Reuters is Steve Hasker, who is the CEO. The Chairman of the company is David Thomson.
In 2018, the company was organized into four main parts:
- Legal: Provides information and tools for lawyers.
- Reuters News Agency: Delivers news to media outlets worldwide.
- Tax & Accounting: Offers software and services for taxes and accounting.
- Government: Provides information to government agencies.
The Financial & Risk part used to be a big division, making up over half of the company's money. This part of the business was later sold.
Thomson Reuters competes with other big companies like Bloomberg L.P. in providing financial and legal news.
Buying and Selling Other Businesses
Thomson Reuters has bought many other companies over the years. This helps them grow and offer new services. For example, they bought Lipper Analytical in 1998, which provided financial analysis.
Some examples of other companies they have bought include:
- Streamlogics (2009): A company that helps with online presentations and data.
- Vhayu Technologies (2009): Provides data services.
- Hugin Group (2009): A European company for investor and public relations.
- Sabrix, Inc (2009): Offers software for managing taxes.
- Discovery Logic (2010): Helps with electronic trading.
- Point Carbon A/S (2010): Provides news and analysis for energy markets.
- Complinet (2010): A company that helps businesses follow rules and regulations.
- Serengeti Law (2010): A system for managing legal cases and billing.
- Pangea3 (2010): Provides legal support services.
- Dr Tax (2012): Canada's largest independent developer of tax software.
- FX Alliance Inc (2012): Provides electronic foreign exchange trading services.
- MarkMonitor (2012): Helps protect brands on the internet.
- Practical Law Company (2013): Provides legal knowledge and tools.
- Casetext (2023): A company that uses AI technology for legal professionals.
Thomson Reuters has also sold some of its businesses. For example, in 2012, they sold their Healthcare division. In 2016, they sold their Intellectual Property and Science business. In 2018, they sold a large part of their financial and risk unit to a company called Blackstone Group. This new company is now called Refinitiv. Thomson Reuters still owns a part of Refinitiv and continues to provide Reuters news to it.
Company Support and Partnerships
Thomson Reuters has supported Canadian golf champion Mike Weir. They have also sponsored the Williams Grand Prix Engineering Formula One racing team. They also support "Marketplace," a radio show from American Public Media.
Thomson Reuters and Information Use
Working with Government Agencies
Thomson Reuters provides information to various organizations, including government agencies. In 2019, some groups raised concerns about the company sharing information with certain U.S. government agencies. A company representative stated that Thomson Reuters helps the government and police with criminal investigations and issues related to national safety.
Importance of Accurate Reporting
In 2020, some Reuters journalists were investigating a company. During their investigation, they mistakenly took a photograph of a businessman who was not the person they were looking for. The businessman faced problems because of this. Reuters later admitted that it was a mistake due to a shared address. This situation highlights how important it is for news organizations to be very careful and accurate in their reporting.
See also
In Spanish: Thomson Reuters para niños
- List of news agencies
- List of companies named after people
- Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (T)
- Dual-listed company
- List of client portals
- List of companies based in New York City
- Software industry in Telangana
- Related
- Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates
- Thomson Reuters Business Classification
- Thomson Reuters Messenger
- Thomson Reuters Indices
- Thomson Reuters/CoreCommodity CRB Index
- Thomson Reuters league tables
- Thomson Reuters Realized Volatility Index
- Thomson Reuters Foundation
Images for kids
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New York building as seen from Times Square.
