The Financial Times (FT) is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs.

Based in London, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikkei, with core editorial offices across Britain, the United States and continental Europe.

It was first circulated around metropolitan London by James Sheridan, who, along with his brother and Horatio Bottomley, sought to report on city business opposite the Financial News.

The succeeding half-century of competition between the two papers eventually culminated in a 1945 merger, led by Brendan Bracken, which established it as one of the largest business newspapers in the world.

Due to its history of economic commentary, the FT publishes a variety of financial indices, primarily the FTSE All-Share Index.

Describing itself as the friend of "The Honest Financier, the Bona Fide Investor, the Respectable Broker, the Genuine Director, and the Legitimate Speculator", it was a four-page journal.

[31] In 2012, the number of digital subscribers surpassed the circulation of the newspaper for the first time and the FT drew almost half of its revenue from subscriptions rather than advertising.

[37][38][39] In 2016, the Financial Times acquired a controlling stake in Alpha Grid, a London-based media company specialising in the development and production of quality branded content across a range of channels, including broadcast, video, digital, social and events.

[40] In 2018, the Financial Times acquired a controlling stake in Longitude, a specialist provider of thought leadership and research services to a multinational corporate and institutional client base.

In 2020, reporter Mark Di Stefano resigned from the Financial Times after hacking into Zoom calls at other media organisations including The Independent and the Evening Standard.

[citation needed] In 2020, the retraction of an opinion piece by a reporter for the Financial Times generated a controversy about the editorial independence of the paper from outside political pressure.

The controversy followed the withdrawal by the newspaper's editor of an opinion piece by FT's Brussels correspondent Mehreen Khan that was critical of French President Emmanuel Macron's policy towards Muslim minorities in France.

[45] After the formal complaint of an investor, Wirecard and the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), the responsible state's attorney announced investigations into several FT journalists.

[48] An investigation by the Intercept, the Nation, and DeSmog found that FT is one of the leading media outlets that publishes advertising for the fossil fuel industry.

[50] In addition, in 2010 the FT was regarded as the most credible publication in reporting financial and economic issues among the Worldwide Professional Investment Community audience.

The first section covers domestic and international news, editorial commentary on politics and economics from FT journalists such as Martin Wolf, Gillian Tett and Edward Luce, and opinion pieces from globally renowned leaders, policymakers, academics and commentators.

Lex boasts some distinguished alumni who have gone on to make careers in business and government—including Nigel Lawson (former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer), Richard Lambert (CBI director and former member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee), Martin Taylor (former chief executive of Barclays), John Makinson (chairman and chief executive of Penguin), John Gardiner (former chairman of Tesco), David Freud (former UBS banker and Labour adviser, now a Conservative peer), John Kingman (former head of UKFI and a banker at Rothschild's), George Graham (RBS banker), Andrew Balls (head of European portfolio management at PIMCO) and Jo Johnson (former Conservative Member of Parliament for Orpington).

How to Spend It started in 1967 as a one-page consumer goods feature in the newspaper, which was edited by Sheila Black, the FT's first female journalist, a former actor.

[60] A 'well-thumbed' copy of the supplement was found when rebel forces broke into Colonel Gaddafi's Tripoli compound during the 2011 Libyan Civil War.

[72] In the 2010 general election, the FT was receptive to the Liberal Democrats' positions on civil liberties and political reform, and praised the then Labour Party leader Gordon Brown for his response to the global 2007–2008 financial crisis, but on balance it backed the Conservatives, while questioning their tendency to Euroscepticism.

[74] In the 2017 general election, an FT editorial reluctantly backed Conservative Theresa May over Labour Jeremy Corbyn, while warning about her stance on immigration and the Eurosceptic elements in her party.

While it raised concerns over hints of protectionism, it praised his ability to "engage the country's attention", his calls for a bipartisan politics, and his plans for "comprehensive health-care reform".

[80][81][82] On 23 July 2015, Nikkei, Inc. agreed to buy the Financial Times Group, a division of Pearson plc since 1957, for £844m (US$1.32 billion)[37][38] and the acquisition was completed on 30 November 2015.

In November 2013 it agreed to sell Mergermarket, an online intelligence reporting business, to the London private equity investor BC Partners.

The group also publishes MandateWire, a financial information company that provides sales and market intelligence for investment professionals in North America, Europe and Asia.

FT Knowledge has offered the "Introducing the City" course (which is a series of Wednesday night lectures and seminars, as well as weekend events) during each autumn and spring since 2000.

Based on the assumptions displayed in James Surowiecki's The Wisdom of Crowds, this contest allows people to use forecasted economic events to observe future occurrences while competing for weekly and monthly prizes.

[99] The letters F-T-S-E represented that FTSE was a joint venture between the Financial Times (F-T) and the London Stock Exchange (S-E).

The first of several overseas offices was opened in New York City in 1999; Paris followed in early 2000, Hong Kong, Frankfurt and San Francisco in 2001, Madrid in 2002 and Tokyo in 2003.

Ed Balls became chief economic adviser to the Treasury, working closely with Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer (or finance minister), before being elected a Member of Parliament in 2005, and became Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in July 2007.