Diana B. Henriques
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Diana Blackmon Henriques (born December 1948) is an American
financial journalist Business journalism is the part of journalism that tracks, records, analyzes and interprets the business, economic and financial activities and changes that take place in societies. Topics widely cover the entire purview of all commercial acti ...
and
author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
working in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Since 1989, she has been a reporter on the staff of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' working on staff until December 2011 and under contract as a contributing writer thereafter.


Early life and education

Henriques was born in Bryan,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, and raised primarily in Roanoke,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, where she was introduced to
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
through the
Junior Achievement JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide is a global non-profit youth organization founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and Winthrop M. Crane. JA works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential learning ...
program at her
public high school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...
. Graduating in 1966, she was awarded a scholarship to The
George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...
's
Elliott School of International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs (known as the Elliott School or ESIA) is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It i ...
in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, where she worked on the campus newspaper, ''The Hatchet.'' In September 1969, she graduated with distinction,
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
, from what is now the university's
Elliott School of International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs (known as the Elliott School or ESIA) is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It i ...
. In May 2011, Henriques was elected to the George Washington University Board of Trustees.


Career

Soon after her marriage in 1969 to Laurence B. Henriques Jr., she was hired as the editor of ''The Lawrence Ledger,'' a small weekly paper covering Lawrence Township, N.J. After working at several local and regional daily newspapers, including ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'', Henriques joined ''Barron's'' magazine as a staff writer in 1986. In 1989, she was hired by ''The New York Times,''Times Topics: Diana B. Henriques
/ref> where she earned the 1999
Gerald Loeb Award The Gerald Loeb Award, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was estab ...
for Deadline and/or Beat Writing for as part of a team covering the near collapse of
Long-Term Capital Management Long-Term Capital Management L.P. (LTCM) was a highly-leveraged hedge fund. In 1998, it received a $3.6 billion bailout from a group of 14 banks, in a deal brokered and put together by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. LTCM was founded in 1 ...
. In 2003, she was elected to the board of governors of the
Society of American Business Editors and Writers The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing is an association of business journalists. Originally founded as the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, in 2018, it changed its name "as part of a broader effort to embrace a g ...
and served until 2016. In 2007, she was cited by the New York Financial Writers Association for "having made a significant long-term contribution to the advancement of financial journalism". At ''The New York Times,'' Henriques has worked on several collaborative projects with reporters from other departments. In 2001, she and the national
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
writer examined serious
quality control Quality control (QC) is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. ISO 9000 defines quality control as "a part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements". This approach places ...
problems in the nation's scholastic testing industry. After the terrorist attacks of September 2001, she worked with a reporter on the metropolitan desk to cover federal compensation and charitable relief for the survivors of those killed in the attacks. She also chronicled the fate of
Cantor Fitzgerald Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. is an American financial services firm that was founded in 1945. It specializes in institutional equity, fixed income sales and trading, and serving the middle market with investment banking services, prime brokerage, an ...
, the
Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
trading house that lost three-quarters of its work force in the collapse of the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
. Her work was included in the "A Nation Challenged" section for which ''The New York Times'' won a
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
in 2002. In 2005, Henriques was a Pulitzer finalist for a series of articles, beginning in July 2004, that exposed the financial exploitation of young soldiers by
insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
and
investment Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...
companies. The articles spurred state regulatory action, congressional hearings, legislative changes, cash refunds for thousands of service members and the adoption of more stringent
Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...
rules governing financial solicitations on and around military bases. For her work on those stories, Henriques was awarded the George Polk Award for Military Reporting, the
Worth Bingham Prize The Worth Bingham Prize, also referred to as the Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Reporting, is an annual journalism award which honors: "newspaper or magazine investigative reporting of stories of national significance where the public inter ...
and the
Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting The Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting is an award for journalists administered by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. The program was launched in 1991, with the goal of exposing examples of ...
. Henriques had also worked on the business news team whose coverage of the post-
Enron Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...
corporate scandals was cited as a Pulitzer finalist in 2003, and she was a member of the reporting team that was named a Pulitzer finalist for its coverage of the
financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...
of 2008. In 1981–1982, Henriques was a Senior Fellow at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
's
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...
, where she began researching her first book under a grant from the
Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation The Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation is located at 950 Third Avenue in Manhattan. New York, NY 10022. History The Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation was founded in 1924 by Florence (née Shloss) and Daniel Guggenheim. Between 1930 ...
. The book
''The Machinery of Greed: Public Authority Abuse and What to Do About It,''
was published by
Lexington Books Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns the book distributing compa ...
in 1986. Henriques also is the author of three other books: ''Fidelity’s World: The Secret Life and Public Power of the Mutual Fund Giant'' (
Scribners Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...
, 1995); ''The White Sharks of Wall Street: Thomas Mellon Evans and the Original Corporate Raiders'' (Scribners, 2000); and ''The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and The Death of Trust'' (
Times Books Times Books (previously the New York Times Book Company) is a publishing imprint owned by the New York Times Company and licensed to Henry Holt and Company. Times Books began as the New York Times Book Company in 1969, when The New York Times C ...
/ Henry Holt, 2011). ''The Wizard of Lies'' grew out of her work as the lead reporter in newspaper's coverage of the scandal that erupted on December 11, 2008, with the arrest of
Bernard L. Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American fraudster and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDAQ s ...
, the founder of a respected Wall Street brokerage firm who confessed in March 2009 to operating a multibillion-dollar
Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...
. In February 2011, ''The Times'' published an exclusive
interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...
with Madoff by Henriques, the first writer to visit him in prison. The interview got wide attention, but a few critics complained that ''The Times'' had given too much prominence to details about the book for which Henriques conducted the interview. Her editor publicly explained that it was a common practice at the paper to include the name and publisher of books in articles about their newsworthy contents. She is currently working on a book about the beginning of the SEC under FDR. Henriques is currently on the Board of Trustees of George Washington University, the Audit Committee of the Investigate Reporters and Editors (IRE), and the Advisory Board for the Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS). ''
The Wizard of Lies ''The Wizard of Lies'' is a 2017 American television biopic film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Sam Levinson, Sam Baum, and John Burnham Schwartz, based on the 2011 non-fiction book of the same name by Diana B. Henriques. The film star ...
'' was adapted into a movie by
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
and released in May, 2017. The film stars
Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
as Bernie Madoff and
Michelle Pfeiffer Michelle Marie Pfeiffer (; born April 29, 1958) is an American actress and producer. A prolific performer whose List of Michelle Pfeiffer performances, screen work spans over four decades, she became one of Hollywood's most bankable stars and ...
as
Ruth Madoff Ruth Madoff ( ; Alpern; born May 18, 1941) is the widow of Bernie Madoff, the convicted American financial fraudster who served a prison sentence for a criminal financial scheme until his death in April 2021. After her husband's arrest for his ...
. Henriques appears as herself in scenes recreating her interviews with Madoff in prison. Her newest book is ''A First-Class Catastrophe: The Road to Black Monday, the Worst Day in Wall Street History'', which was published in September, 2017.


Personal life

Henriques and her husband Larry live in
Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...
. She is
Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...
. Starting in September 1997, after a
repetitive strain injury A repetitive strain injury (RSI) is an injury to part of the musculoskeletal or nervous system caused by repetitive use, vibrations, compression or long periods in a fixed position. Other common names include repetitive stress disorders, cumula ...
, Henriques became the first reporter at the ''New York Times'' and one of the first at any major daily newspaper to produce all her stories via
speech recognition Speech recognition is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and computational linguistics that develops methodologies and technologies that enable the recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers with the m ...
software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
rather than
typing Typing is the process of writing or inputting text by pressing keys on a typewriter, computer keyboard, mobile phone or calculator. It can be distinguished from other means of text input, such as handwriting and speech recognition. Text can b ...
.One reporter's battle with RSI
/ref> After a decade, she continued to use the software for major writing projects, including her two books published after 1997.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henriques, Diana B. 1948 births The New York Times writers American financial writers American women journalists Writers from Hoboken, New Jersey Living people Elliott School of International Affairs alumni Gerald Loeb Award winners for Deadline and Beat Reporting