Appointment reinforces importance of US to FT business

Matt Fottrell, vice president of the Financial Times US and managing director of FT Specialist, has today been promoted to the FT Group management board. Based in New York, Fottrell will report directly to FT Group CEO, John Ridding.

Fottrell was appointed US vice president in 2018 and is responsible for building the FT’s presence and footprint there, alongside US managing editor Peter Spiegel. His elevation to the board recognises the importance of the American market to the FT, which has rapidly grown its readership and commercial revenues in the US by targeting globally relevant sectors and identifying underserved business audiences.

Fottrell is also managing director of FT Specialist, a portfolio of 17 business and finance titles with more than 250,000 paying subscribers worldwide. Under his leadership, revenues and profit at FT Specialist - which includes venerable titles like The Banker, successful acquisitions like Money Media, and other innovative verticals - have grown significantly. The Specialist portfolio has undergone a dramatic shift in its business from a print advertising-funded model to one where over 80% of revenues now come from digital subscriptions, content and digital advertising.

John Ridding, FT Group CEO, said, “I’m delighted to welcome Matt Fottrell to the management board. Over the course of his career at the FT, Matt has proven to be a creative, collaborative and highly effective business leader. He has stewarded the digital transformation of our FT Specialist portfolio expertly and been key to our North American growth story. And he is a thoughtful, generous colleague who is hugely respected within and outside our organisation.”

Matt Fottrell said, “I’m delighted to join the management board and look forward to contributing to the FT Group’s strategic direction. It’s an exciting time for quality, business publishers around the world. We’ve had some notable successes in the US in particular and there’s more we can do, working across the FT Group in New York and London, to accelerate growth in the US.”

Fottrell joined the FT in London in 1999, working in advertising across a range of titles, before becoming Publisher of FT Business. In 2006, he was promoted to Publisher of FTfm, before taking on responsibility for all financial advertising at the FT. He has been involved in four successful acquisitions for the FT Group. He became director of Financial Publishing (now FT Specialist) in 2014.

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For more information, please contact: Rhonda Taylor | rhonda.taylor@ft.com

About the Financial Times

The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of more than one million, three-quarters of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community.

About FT Specialist

FT Specialist is part of the FT Group and composed of 17 brands, created by 300 people around the world. FT Specialist focuses on niche audience groups, providing these with focused business-critical information and data that helps them operate effectively. It covers a range of sectors including fund management, banking, foreign direct investment, personal finance, corporate boards and insurance. Its most famous brands include Ignites (for US fund management companies), The Banker and Investors Chronicle. FT Specialist has grown significantly in recent years while undergoing a transformation from a traditional, print-based B2B advertising model, to a portfolio that now generates around 80% of revenues from digital subscriptions, content and digital advertising.