Thorold Barker

I have spent thirty years building deep expertise in business, finance, media, tech and geopolitics, while working in New York and London as a journalist and management consultant. Interacting with senior business and political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic has positioned me to join the dots in an increasingly complex and fast-changing world as an adviser, board member and interviewer/speaker.

I am on the board of Moelis & Co and Tiger 21; Senior Adviser at AlixPartners; CEO adviser; Visiting Fellow at Oxford; and I appear regularly as a speaker and interviewer. Previous interviews at Davos / Cannes / WSJ CEO Council, include Elon Musk, Satya Nadella, Bill Gates, Christine Lagarde, David Attenborough, Ryan Reynolds, Mark Carney, Ana Botin, Rishi Sunak, Antony Blinken, David Solomon, Demis Hassabis, Steve Schwarzman, Adam Grant, Andrew Bailey, and Ray Dalio.

Until 2023, I was the Wall Street Journal's EMEA Editor for 10 years, while also acting as the masthead editor in charge of events and the CEO Council network. See my leaving announcement: https://talkingbiznews.com/media-news/thorold-barker-departs-wsj/.

Prior to that I ran the Journal's Heard on the Street column for five years and was the FT's U.S. Lex Editor in New York. I started my career at Bain & Co, after studying Spanish and Italian (I also speak French) at Cambridge.

Quotes from my leaving announcement: Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corp “Thorold has had a profoundly positive impact. He reinvented Heard on the Street, ensuring that it became absolutely required reading for any business person seeking intelligent, compellingly written insight. Then he showed true leadership in building our international reach and influence, making Dow Jones the pre-eminent global source of trusted news and analysis. And his work in transforming our conferences and building our CEO network has put The Wall Street Journal at the intellectual centre for the most powerful women and men in the world.”

Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones: “Few newsroom leaders have had the impact that Thorold Barker had during his decade and a half at the Journal. With his sharp intellect and entrepreneurial spirit, he reshaped our institution’s role on the world stage, overseeing insightful coverage and analysis on companies, markets and world events. His energetic presence and strategic wherewithal helped drive sharp growth of the CEO Council through his masterful on-stage interviews with luminaries, eliciting oft-unexpected revelations. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with him as a colleague.”