NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--News Corp announced today that Will Lewis will be departing as CEO of Dow Jones and Publisher of The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Lewis will continue to work with his team through the current COVID-19 crisis for the next month, while a successor will be announced in the coming weeks.
“Over the past six-plus years, Will Lewis has overseen a remarkable period of growth and digital transformation at Dow Jones, making it the finest news and professional information business in the world,” said Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News Corp. “Will’s enthusiastic and inspirational leadership has helped his company and colleagues reach new heights of journalistic excellence and financial accomplishment. We will miss him, but we respect his decision to be in London full time with his family.”
“There is never a good time to be leaving the best job in U.S. media. But after six years as CEO of Dow Jones and Publisher of The Wall Street Journal, it is time to move on. The company is in the best shape it has been for years, and more than ready to withstand the changing economic conditions. Thank you in particular to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch and Robert Thomson and my amazing colleagues for all their support over the years,” said Mr. Lewis.
Will Lewis was named to his current position in May 2014, after serving as Interim CEO beginning in January 2014. Since that time, Dow Jones and its businesses have experienced:
- A substantial increase in the number of subscriptions, surpassing 3.5 million in February 2020, as previously reported;
- An increase in digital-only subscriptions, with The Wall Street Journal exceeding 2 million in February 2020, as previously reported;
- Growth in the Dow Jones Risk & Compliance business, where revenues grew 21% in the 2nd quarter of Fiscal Year 2020. Risk & Compliance has seen over 20% revenue growth for 12 straight quarters;
- Barron's subscribers hit a record in the 2nd quarter of Fiscal Year 2020 as well, at 615,000, up 8% over the prior year;
- Dow Jones entered significant platform partnerships that include financial payments for journalism from Apple and Facebook.
- In the first half of Fiscal Year 2020, Dow Jones posted higher revenues, with Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal experiencing record subscriber levels.
Mr. Lewis rejoined News Corp in 2010 as Group General Manager at News International (now News UK) and became Chief Creative Officer at News Corp in 2013. Beforehand, he was Editor-in-Chief of the Telegraph Media Group, and also served as Business Editor of The Sunday Times and Global News Editor of the Financial Times.
About News Corp
News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS)(NASDAQ:NWSA)(ASX:NWS)(ASX:NWSLV) is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. The company comprises businesses across a range of media, including: news and information services, subscription video services in Australia, book publishing and digital real estate services. Headquartered in New York, News Corp operates primarily in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, and its content and other products and services are distributed and consumed worldwide. More information is available at: http://www.newscorp.com.
