# Robert Thomson

> Robert Thomson is an Australian journalist and the New York-based chief executive of News Corp. His career spans reporting in Beijing and Tokyo, editing the FT’s US edition and The Times, leading The Wall Street Journal’s newsroom, and negotiating technology licensing deals while reshaping News Corp around Dow Jones, digital real estate and book publishing.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at News Corp
- **Organizations:** News Corp, Dow Jones & Company, The Wall Street Journal, The Times, Financial Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Herald, Melbourne
- **From:** Torrumbarry, Australia
- **Nationality:** Australian
- **Education:** Christian Brothers College, St Kilda, Studied journalism, RMIT University, Doctor of Communications, honoris causa, RMIT University
- **Known for:** Named US Business Journalist of the Year by TJFR in 2001., During his leadership of the FT US edition, sales tripled to almost 150,000., Times Online monthly audience grew from under 1 million to almost 13 million during his editorship.

## Career timeline

- **1979** — Joined The Herald in Melbourne as a copyboy; later worked as a reporter.
- **1983** — Became senior feature writer at The Sydney Morning Herald.
- **1985–1989** — Beijing correspondent in a bureau shared by The Sydney Morning Herald and Financial Times.
- **1989–1994** — Financial Times correspondent in Tokyo.
- **1994–1996** — Financial Times foreign news editor in London.
- **1996** — Became editor of the Weekend FT.
- **1998** — Became editor of the Financial Times US edition.
- **2002** — Became editor of The Times of London.
- **2007-12** — Joined Dow Jones.
- **2008-05** — Became editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal.
- **2013-01** — Assumed the chief executive role ahead of the News Corp separation in June 2013.
- **2024-05** — News Corp signed a multiyear content partnership with OpenAI.
- **2025-06** — Contract extended through June 2030.

## Achievements

- Named US Business Journalist of the Year by TJFR in 2001.
- During his leadership of the FT US edition, sales tripled to almost 150,000.
- Times Online monthly audience grew from under 1 million to almost 13 million during his editorship.
- Received an honorary Doctor of Communications from RMIT in 2010.
- Led News Corp through a digital revenue mix shift from roughly 20% in fiscal 2014 to 50% in fiscal 2024.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — News Corp reported fiscal 2026 results: full-year revenues grew 7%, Total Segment EBITDA rose 15%, and operating cash flow reached $1.24 billion. Thomson described content relationships with OpenAI and Meta and ongoing talks with other companies.
- **2026-03** — Thomson and Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour discussed a goal of $1 billion in annual Dow Jones earnings within five years; it is a target, not a realised result.
- **2025-06** — News Corp extended Thomson’s chief executive contract through June 2030.

## Links

- Website: https://newscorp.com/leader/robert-thomson/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-thomson-52603a8

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/robert-thomson
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21