Financial Times

The story of the Financial Times begins not with its iconic salmon-pink pages, but as a modest four-page journal named the 'London Financial Guide'. Launched on January 10, 1888, by James Sheridan, its mission was to be the steadfast friend of the 'Honest Financier, the Bona Fide Investor, the Respectable Broker, the Genuine Director, and the Legitimate Speculator'. Just a month later, it was rebranded to the more enduring 'Financial Times'. In a stroke of marketing genius designed to distinguish itself from its chief rival, the 'Financial News', the FT began printing on its distinctive light pink paper on January 2, 1893, a feature that has become a global symbol of quality financial journalism.

For over half a century, the FT and the Financial News competed fiercely for the readership of the City of London. This long-standing rivalry culminated in a landmark merger in 1945, which propelled the combined entity onto the world stage. The post-war years marked a period of significant expansion. In 1957, the British publishing powerhouse Pearson acquired the newspaper, stewarding its growth for nearly six decades. Under Pearson's ownership, the FT transformed from a respected London paper into a global authority. It launched its first European edition in 1979 and a US edition in 1997. The digital age presented both challenges and opportunities, which the FT embraced head-on. It launched FT.com in 1995 and pioneered a metered paywall, successfully transitioning its business model to focus on digital subscriptions. In 2015, a new chapter began when the Japanese media group Nikkei Inc. acquired the Financial Times for £844 million. Today, with a record global paying readership of over 1.5 million, the majority of whom are digital subscribers, the FT continues its founding mission, providing trusted news, data, and analysis to a global business community navigating an increasingly complex world.