NEW YORK – Matt Murray has been named the new Editor-in-Chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, succeeding Gerard Baker, who will move to a new position as the Journal’s Editor-at-Large, which will include regular writing and hosting the paper’s expanding network of conferences and events. Baker will also host a new WSJ show on the Fox Business Network.
Murray is currently Executive Editor of the Journal and will take over as Editor-in-Chief on June 11.
Under Baker’s five-and-a-half year tenure, the Journal’s daily circulation has grown by more than a third, led by a rapid digital expansion with over 3 million subscribers per year. The paper’s technological transformation has resulted in rapid international expansion under Mr. Baker’s leadership and its Conference network is continuing to grow on a global scale.
Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News Corp, said: “Gerry has been a very successful editor at a time when journalism has been digitally challenged. I have no doubt that Matt is a worthy successor as Editor-in-Chief and will be a leader of the highest commitment and integrity. His strong reporting and editing background and his passion for the Journal are obvious to all who have the privilege of working with him.
“In his new role, Gerry, who is a gifted writer and skillful and intelligent interviewer, will continue to make an important contribution to the Journal’s development.”
Baker will write a regular column in Review, the paper’s weekend section, as well as other articles for the paper. In addition, he will host a WSJ-branded news and interview show on Fox Business Network and be a leading voice of the Journal’s rapidly expanding live journalism and events business, conducting interviews with leading figures from business, politics and culture.
Prior to his appointment as Executive Editor, Murray was Deputy Editor-in-Chief since 2013, and had been a Deputy Managing Editor since 2008. He joined Dow Jones & Company in 1994 as a reporter for the Pittsburgh bureau. In 1997, he joined the Journal’s Money & Investing section, where he covered banking.
Murray joined the WSJ news desk in 2004, and later served as a deputy national editor and national news editor. He is the author of The Father and the Son and the co-author, with former New York City fire commissioner Thomas Von Essen, of Strong of Heart. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University and lives in New York with his wife and daughter.
