The Economist Newspaper Limited (commonly The Economist Group) is a British media company headquartered in London, England. It is best known as publisher of The Economist newspaper and its sister lifestyle magazine, 1843. The Economist Group specialises in international business and world affairs information. Its principal activities are in print and digital media as well as in conferences and market intelligence.
Ownership
After the death of its founder James Wilson in 1860, The Economist was held in testamentary trust for his six daughters and their dependents. The eldest, Mrs Bagehot, whose husband Walter was editor at the time of Wilson's death, maintained a close personal interest in the paper until her death in 1921. Subsequently, the Wilson trustees were concerned whether surviving beneficiaries would keep touch with the paper's direction, as further deaths formed subsidiary trusts over time. So in 1928 the Wilson Trust decided to sell the paper, whilst creating a structure intended to maintain its reputation for 'independent judgment and unfettered criticism'. A non-controlling 50% went to the Financial Times, and the other half to an influential group of individual shareholders. A new board of independent trustees was created, with rights both to veto the transfer of voting shares and to choose or remove editors-in-chief, who in turn would have sole responsibility for the paper's policy.[2]