History & SocietyScience & TechBiographiesAnimals & NatureGeography & TravelArts & CultureGames & QuizzesVideosOn This DayOne Good FactDictionaryCompanionsDemystifiedImage GalleriesInfographicsListsPodcastsSpotlightSummariesThe ForumTop Questions#WTFact100 WomenBritannica KidsSaving EarthSpace Next 50Student Center
Britannica Money
Subscribe Now
Table of Contents

Financial Times

British newspaper
Also known as: “FT”
Written and fact-checked byThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
Table of Contents
Recent News
(Straits Times)Aukus weighs expanding security pact to deter China, says Financial Times report
(Voice of America)China Blocks Using Intel, AMD Chips in Government Computers, Report Says

Financial Times, newspaper edited in London that traditionally had strong influence on the financial policies of the British government. Its paper version is printed Monday through Saturday throughout the world, and it is known as one of England’s superior newspapers.

The Financial Times was founded in 1888 by James Sheridan and his brother, and it competed for many years with four other finance-oriented papers, finally in 1945 absorbing the last of these, the Financial News (founded in 1884). The company Pearson purchased a controlling stake in the Financial Times in 1957. The newspaper’s circulation expanded significantly during the second half of the 20th century, and the paper’s scope became global, with printing expanded to several cities in Europe, Asia, and North America and various international versions launched. By the late 1990s the newspaper’s circulation outside the United Kingdom exceeded that within. The Web site of the Financial Times debuted in 1995, with for-pay features and subscriptions introduced from 2002. In 1994 the newspaper also began publishing the lifestyle magazine How to Spend It. In 2015 the Japanese media company Nikkei purchased the FT Group, the holdings of which included the newspaper.

The Financial Times has specialized in reporting business and financial news while maintaining an independent editorial outlook. Early in the second decade of the 21st century, daily readership of paper and electronic versions of the Financial Times was estimated at more than two million people. Since the 1890s the newspaper has been identifiable by its distinctive pink paper, a design element echoed across its digital products.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.