Richard John Micklethwait (born 11 August 1962) is a British journalist who is the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

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, a position he has held since February 2015. He was previously the

of ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' from 2006 to 2015.

Early life

Micklethwait was born in 1962, in London, and was educated at Ampleforth College (an

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

) and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, where he studied history.

Career

Micklethwait worked for Chase Manhattan Bank for two years and joined ''The Economist'' in 1987. Prior to becoming editor-in-chief, he was U.S. editor of the publication and ran the New York Bureau for two years. Before that, he edited the Business Section of the newspaper for four years. Micklethwait's other roles have included setting up an office in Los Angeles for ''The Economist'', where he worked from 1990 to 1993. He has covered business and politics from the United States, Latin America, Continental Europe, Southern Africa, and Asia. Appointed as editor-in-chief in March 2006, the first issue of ''The Economist'' published under his editorship was released on 7 April 2006. He was named Editors' Editor by the British Society of Magazine Editors in 2010. Micklethwait has frequently appeared on

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ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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, PBS and NPR. In 2015, Micklethwait was appointed as a Trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. He was also a delegate, along with two colleagues, at the 2010 Bilderberg Conference held in Spain. This group consists of an assembly of notable politicians, industrialists and financiers who meet annually to discuss issues on a non-disclosure basis. Micklethwait was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to journalism and economics. In November 2019, Micklethwait ordered his staff not to investigate their boss,

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

(nor any other Democratic candidates) during Bloomberg's presidential campaign. In October 2024, Micklethwait interviewed President elect

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

at the Economic Club of Chicago as ''Bloomberg'''s top editor.

Personal life

In September 2024, Micklethwait married actress Kristin Scott Thomas after a five-year romance.

Bibliography

Micklethwait is the co-author of several books with Adrian Wooldridge, including: *''The Witch Doctors: Making Sense of the Management Gurus'' (1996) *''A Future Perfect: the Challenge and Hidden Promise of Globalisation'' (2000) *''The Company—A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea'' (2003) *'' The Right Nation: A Study of Conservatism in America'' (2004) *'' God is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith Is Changing the World'' (2009) *''The Fourth Revolution: The Global Race To Reinvent The State'' (2014) *''The Wake-Up Call: Why the Pandemic has Exposed the Weakness of the West, and How to Fix It'' (2020)

References

External links

Profile
at ''

''
Inside The Economist Magazine
Stanford's Hoover Institution interview with Micklethwait

Profile of Micklethwait from

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

�
Archived copy

Interview with Micklethwait at the Institute of International Studies,

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

Biography from the London Speaker Bureau

Interview on OpenDemocracy.net

Biography from Random House

Interview on The Alligator Online
* *
C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Micklethwait, 2 December 2007
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Micklethwait, John 1962 births Living people British editors British male journalists British writers People educated at Ampleforth College The Economist editors Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Writers from London English male writers Trustees of the British Museum Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs