Roula Khalaf

Spear’s Review

The first female editor of pre-eminent business newspaper the Financial Times, Roula Khalaf helps set the agenda for the City of London. 

Born in Beiruit in 1965, she has expertise in Iraq, where she has travelled extensively, the Gulf, North Africa and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. She joined the FT in 1995 as North Africa correspondent. Not afraid to take calculated risks, Khalaf often entered conflict zones. A stint as Middle East editor followed, and she was deputy editor from 2016 until she put her hat in the ring for the editor’s job in 2020. 

Khalaf has been credited with broadening the appeal of the stalwart publication. In an interview with the Press Gazette, she explained, ‘I think that we may have been too narrow in the past in what we consider to be an FT story. Because an FT story is a story that is relevant to our readers.

‘And we can help our readers in telling them what we also think should be relevant to them. There was a time when a lot of readers did not like stories about climate change. But climate change became a very relevant topic for business.’

Khalaf wants her journalists to be ‘curious, demanding, searching, tenacious – and to get the best stories’, and FT journalists consistently win accolades in the UK and abroad. Describing herself as a hands-on boss who loves the buzz of the newsroom, she told the Press Gazette that she strives for diversity both in the newsroom and in the FT readership. 

A keen proponent of digital journalism, she has been instrumental in increasing the use of video and data journalism, and it is having an impact: in 2022 digital subscriptions topped one million.

Khalaf holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University and appears regularly on national and international TV and radio. 

An internationally minded, UK-based head of a global media outlet, she is a vital ambassador for brand Britain.