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The Economist Group announced two key executive hires, naming Luke Bradley-Jones as the new president of The Economist and Leon Saunders Calvert as the new president of Economist Intelligence.
Bradley-Jones will assume the role this summer, while Saunders Calvert will begin his tenure in April. Both men are based in London and will report to chief executive Lara Boro.
“Mr Bradley-Jones, an Economist aficionado and subscriber for 30 years, has the track record, vision and leadership ability to further The Economist’s audience growth and digital innovation,” Boro said.
The Economist Group consists of four businesses: The Economist, Economist Education, Economist Impact and Economist Intelligence.
The two new presidents, who will lead the business efforts of two of these four ventures, join a company whose affluent, global readership has afforded it a rare degree of commercial stability in a mercurial industry.
In its latest financial results, which reflect the six months ending Sept. 30, revenues for The Economist Group reached $227 million and generated a $30 million operating profit. The Economist, including Economist Education, generated $138 million, while Economist Impact and Intelligence brought in $58 million and $30 million, respectively.
The Economist also has 1.2 million paying subscribers, placing it behind only The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post in total number of paid subscriptions, according to subscriptions firm Toolkits. In the last half year, 61% of its new subscribers opted for the digital-only subscription, up from 56% in the six months prior.
Background on the new presidents
The new president of The Economist, Bradley-Jones, joins the company from the streaming service Disney+, where he served as the general manager of EMEA.
In that position, which he began in January 2020, Bradley-Jones was responsible for the roll-out of Disney+ across the region, as well as the strategy, operations and commercial performance of the Disney direct-to-consumer business.
Before joining Disney, Bradley-Jones spent eight years at the British broadcasting company Sky, where he led the transformation of its on-demand services as its chief marketing officer. At The Economist, he is filling the vacancy created by the departure of media executive Bob Cohn, who left the publisher to join the nonprofit news startup The Baltimore Banner in December.
“The Economist is a brand I’ve respected and relied on for years,” Bradley-Jones said in a statement. “It’s an honor to be tasked with identifying new ways to evolve The Economist into a digital-first product.”
Saunders Calvert, the new president of Economist Intelligence, joins the company from ESG Book, a fin-tech company focused on data, analytics and software, where he was partner and chief product officer.
Before ESG Book, he spent 15 years at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). Saunders Calvert joined LSEG through the acquisition of Refinitiv, formerly the Financial & Risk business of Thomson Reuters. He is replacing Ramsey Hashem, who occupied the role for less than a year.
“I’m also thrilled that Mr Saunders Calvert will be leading Economist Intelligence,” Boro said. “His knowledge of data, analytics and software will help him lead the EIU team to create the most innovative client solutions.”
