Thorold Barker - Financial Journalist

Guardian Reports that Thorold Barker will Take 3 Months to Transition to WSJ

2008-06-14T02:02:00Z

Neil Buckley

London's Guardian newspaper in its June 6, 2008 edition confirms that Thorold Barker has been hired by The Wall Street Journal, but says quotes a spokesperson for the Financial Times as saying that Barker will continue with his current employer for three more months.

That should prove very interesting, given that at the Journal it is believed Barker will compete directly with the FT's Lex column, which Barker currently oversees.

Of course it is possible that the FT is simply acting to prevent the influential Barker from jumping too quickly to the paper's American rival and will not actually permit Barker to conduct any meaningful work between now and his official departure date.

The Guardian took note that the FT moved quickly to bring in fresh talent to help produce the Lex stock market and analyses feature.

Helen Thomas, previously a London-based Lex writer has joined the New York team. Also this month, Jo Johnson, previously the FT's South Asia bureau chief, becomes editor of the column, with newly hired John Paul Rathbone signing on as Johnson's deputy, according to the Guardian.

Finally, Neil Buckley completes a term as Moscow bureau chief to join the Lex team.

Financial Times Lex Columnists Thorold Barker and Liam Denning to Wall Street Journal

2008-06-12T17:21:00Z

Thorold Barker and Liam Denning have been hired by The Wall Street Journal as contributors to the paper's Heard on the Street investment column. The pair previously wrote the influential Lex colum for The Financial Times.

Photo: Thorold Barker - June 2008

North American Rackets News: Thorold Barker -- The Wall Street Journal

2008-06-12T17:15:00Z

For the Silver Rackets final, World Champion Harry Foster and Robin Geffen won in a walkover. In the US Amateur Singles, Mark Farmiloe (Queen's Club and Mjolnir) forced a 5th game after being down 2-0 and beat Thorold Barker (NYR&T). In a match that took every bit of 2 and a half hours, Thorold suffered from a series of painful cramping sessions throughout the match.

North American Rackets Association

November 2007

Personal NewsBios Background on Thorold Barker -- The Wall Street Journal

2008-06-12T17:06:00Z

PERSONAL (6/07): Mr. Barker holds the U.S. and Canadian amateur doubles titles in the North American Racquets Club. He has been playing Rackets for years, having played in school at Marlborough in 1986, 1987, and 1989. The game is similar to squash, although it is played on a larger court and with a harder ball. It is described as the “fastest and most dangerous” of the racquet sports.

In addition to his native English, he is fluent in French, Spanish and Italian. Mr. Barker is an avid and accomplished rackets player.

NewsBios Has Been Covering Thorold Barker Since Early 2005

2008-06-11T11:45:00Z

Thorold Barker, who recently joined the Heard on the Street team at The Wall Street Journal, is one of more than 7,000 influential business and financial journalists in our NewsBios in-depth dossier database. What follows is an entry from April 2005. To order his full, updated biography, phone us at 1-866-NEWS-070, ext. 2.

Current (4/05): Mr. Barker was promoted in Februaryfrom deputy editor to head editor of U.S. Lex. He had been named deputy editor of the publication’s leading financial analysis column in November 2003. TheLex column runs daily in each of the Financial Times’ four regional editions(UK, Continental Europe, USA and Asia) of the newspaper. Additionally, as partof the “Lex live” service, FT.com subscribers receive up to six additionalreal-time notes every day, before they appear in print.

The column, which is akin to The Wall Street Journal’s Heardon the Street, provides readers with up to date analysis of global business andmarkets news and trends. It was established in the 1930s by HargreavesParkinson, who went on to become the editor of the Financial Times.Distinguished alumni of the Lex notes includes former FT editors Sir GordonNewton and Richard Lambert, Nigel Lawson, chancellor under Margaret Thatcher,Martin Taylor, former CEO of Barclays Bank, and John Makinson, CEO and chairmanof Penguin.

In his role as editor, Mr. Barker helps lead a team of morethan half a dozen writers in London and New York with an additional writer inAsia. The commentary does notcarry a byline. Examples of a fewrecent Lex columns include:

•“Can you be too clever by half on Wall Street? Itseems that a number of Goldman Sachs' rivals feel that way about the firm'smultiple roles in the New York Stock Exchange merger with Archipelago.” –4/25/05

•“Valero’s $8 billion acquisition of Premcor could not be better timed.” –4/25/05

•“As ‘le cost-cutter,’ Carlos Ghosn worked his magic on Nissan Motor.” –4/25/05