Andrew Knight
Andrew Stephen Bower Knight (born 1 November 1939 in England) is a journalist, editor, and media baron.
He was educated at the Roman Catholic school Ampleforth College, where he was appointed Head Boy, and was awarded an Exhibition to Balliol College, Oxford (MA, Modern History). Knight worked at the City of London merchant bankers, J. Henry Schroder Wagg, from 1961 to 1963 and the Investors Chronicle from 1962 until 1966.
Career as journalist
He joined The Economist in 1966 on the international business and investment sections. From March 1968 to April 1970 he served in the Washington offices of the paper before returning to Europe to establish its European section and, in 1973, its offices in Brussels.
Knight was named Editor of The Economist in October 1974. Aged 34, he was the second youngest Editor in the newspaper's history.[1] He remained Editor until 1986, and was named International Editor of the Year by World Press Review in June 1981.[1]
He masterminded the take-over of the then floundering Telegraph Group in 1985, taking The Daily Telegraph's ailing circulation and turning it into the highest selling broadsheet in the UK. Knight successfully approached Conrad Black for financing of the take-over, and controversially appointed Max Hastings a historian and former BBC journalist, as editor of The Daily Telegraph. Knight was Chief Executive and Editor-in-Chief of the London Daily Telegraph Group from January 1986 until October 1989.
In March 1990, Knight joined News International plc as Chairman. Rupert Murdoch named Knight as his "Backstop and successor" at News Corporation prior to Knight retiring in June 1994 due a near fatal skiing accident[citation needed]. He was appointed a Director of News Corporation[2] on 31st January 1991 and became a non-executive Director in 1994.
Personal life
Andrew Knight was born on 1 November 1939 to Group Captain M. W. B. Knight DFC and his wife S. E. F. Knight. Group Captain Knight was a decorated officer with the RAF, noted for founding Squadron 485, the New Zealand Squadron. In 1966, Andrew Knight married Victoria Catherine Brittain, by whom he had a son Casimir Steven Knight. After a divorce, he married Begum Sabiha Rumani Malik in 1975, with whom he has two daughters, Amaryllis Salima Knight, and Afsaneh Zoe Knight, and one step daughter, British journalist and author India Knight. They divorced in 1991.[3] In 2006, Andrew Knight remarried for the second time, his third wife being Marita Crawley, who has three children by her first marriage.[4]
Positions held
- Member of the Board of News Corporation (1991- current)
- Chairman, News International plc (1990-94)
- CEO, Editor-in-Chief of the London Daily Telegraph Group (1986-89)
- Editor in Chief of The Economist (1974-86)
- Brussels Office of The Economist (1973-74)
- Established the European Section of The Economist (1970-73)
- Washington Office of The Economist (1968-70)
- Investors Chronicle (1962-66)
- J. Henry Schroder Wagg (1961-63)
- Member of the Board of Reuters
- Member of the Board of Tandem Computers
- Director of Rothschild family Investment Trust[5]
Cultural and educational institutions, charities
- Chairman of the Jerwood Charity[6]
- Chairman of Shipston Home Nursing[6]
- Chairman of the Harlech Scholars’ Trust[6]
- Governor of the Ditchley Foundation[6]
- Member of the Board of The Kirov Opera and Ballet formally known as Mariinsky Theatre at Royal Opera House in Covent Garden[6]
- Member of the Council of Management of the Ditchley Foundation[6]
- Advisory Board of the Centre of Economic Policy Research at Stanford University, California[6]
- Advisory Council of the Institute of International Studies, Stanford University[6]
- Council member of the Brain and Spine Foundation
Former positions
- non-executive Director of Reuters Holdings plc and of Tandem Computers Inc.[6]
- Former Director of BSkyB from 1990 to 1994
- Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group[6]
- Overseer of the Hoover Institution, Stanford[6]
- Former Chairman of the Ballet Rambert[6]
- Former Trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum[6]
- Former Governor of Imperial College of Science & Technology[6]
- Former Council member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs Chatham House[6]
- Former Council member of Templeton College, Oxford University[6]
- Former Governor of
Gordonstoun school, Scotland
References
- ^ a b 2006 Archive - Career section Ampleforth College web site, "News for Old Amplefordians"
- ^ News Corporation Board of Directors
- ^ Andrew S. B. Knight Entry at NNDB
- ^ Who's Who, 2007 edition, p. 1282 col. 2
- ^ News Corporation Board of Directors
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Brain and Spine Foundation
External links
| Preceded by Alastair Burnet |
Editor of The
Economist 1974-1986 |
Succeeded by Rupert Pennant-Rea |
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