the economist group type private limited company founded 1843 london founder james wilson headquarters 25 st james s street london england area served worldwide key people chris stibbs group chief executive susan clark cmo products the economist magazines newspapers services market intelligence conferences revenue 361.8 million 2012 1 operating income 67.3 million 2012 1 net income 47.23 million 2012 1 total assets 66.16 million at 31 march 2012 1 total equity 4.57 million at 31 march 2012 1 owner cadbury rothschild schroder and agnelli families number of employees 1 414 2012 average 1 divisions economist intelligence unit cq roll call eurofinance website www.economistgroup.com the economist building the economist group s headquarters in london the economist newspaper limited trading as the economist group is a british multinational media company headquartered in london and best known as publisher of the economist . the economist group specialises in international business and world affairs information . its principal activities are magazines newspapers conferences and market intelligence . contents 1 ownership 2 history 3 operations 4 corporate affairs 4.1 governance 4.2 financial data 5 references 6 external links ownership edit the economist group is owned by the cadbury rothschild schroder agnelli and other family interests as well as a number of staff and former staff shareholders . pearson plc held a 50 % shareholding via the financial times limited until august 2015 . at this time pearson sold their share in the economist . the agnelli family s exor paid 287m to raise their stake from 4.7 % to 43.4 % while the economist paid 182m for the balance of 5.04 m shares which will be distributed to current shareholders . 2 history edit the origins of the economist group date back to the foundation of the economist a political commercial agricultural & free trade journal by james wilson in 1843 . 3 in 1946 the economist intelligence unit began providing business intelligence to both the economist magazine and external clients . 3 in the same year the economist bookshop was established as a 50 50 joint venture with the london school of economics . 3 economist conferences was established as a division of economist intelligence unit in 1956 to offer government roundtables . 3 in 1995 the economist group acquired the journal of commerce a us based provider of information for the shipping and transportation industries . 3 in the same year the group launched european voice the first pan european union weekly newspaper . 3 in july 2004 the economist group launched an upmarket lifestyle magazine called intelligent life an annual publication . this magazine was redesigned as a quarterly in september 2007 and became a bi monthly publication in august 2011 . in march 2016 the magazine was renamed 1843 . launched in 2010 the ideas people channel is a vertical online advertising network of around 50 sites defined by the mindset of the audience . the sites recruited for the network were identified by the readers of the economist as their favourite online destinations for topics on business globalisation innovation and culture . the channel competes in the lower cost high volume network advertising market a category not previously served by the economist online . 4 also recently launched is economist education providing e learning courses . in march 2012 the economist group acquired the london based marketing communications agency tvc group for an undisclosed sum . 5 in april 2012 the economist intelligence unit expanded in asia with the acquisition of clearstate a market intelligence firm specialising in customised strategic advisory and primary research solutions in the healthcare and life sciences domains . 3 in july 2015 canback & company a strategy consulting firm operating in more than 70 countries was acquired . it is now known as eiu canback . operations edit the economist group is headquartered in the city of westminster london england and has offices worldwide including in brussels belgium frankfurt germany geneva switzerland paris france dubai united arab emirates johannesburg south africa hong kong mainland china singapore tokyo japan india new york city and washington dc in the united states . the economist group s principal activities are magazines newspapers conferences and market intelligence . publications and services delivered under the economist brand include the economist magazine the economist online economist intelligence unit economist conferences economist corporate network the world in series and a bi monthly lifestyle magazine 1843 . the group s other brands include cq roll call aimed at decision makers on capitol hill eurofinance a cash and treasury management event business and a digital media agency tvc . european voice brussels formerly a sister publication of cq roll call was sold to the french company selectcom in 2013 . corporate affairs edit governance edit the current members of the board of directors of the economist group are rupert pennant rea chairman philip hoffman zanny minton beddoes editor in chief of the economist magazine john ridding eric schmidt of alphabet parent company of google sir david bell john elkann john micklethwait sir simon robertson lynn forester de rothschild chris stibbs and luke swanson . 6 former board members include andrew rashbass rona fairhead and philip mengel . 7 the current trustees of the group are baroness bottomley of nettlestone lord o donnell tim clark and bryan sanderson . 8 financial data edit 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 group turnover 248m 266m 313m 320m 347m group operating profit 36m 44m 56m 58m 63m 1 references edit a b c d e f g annual report 2012 pdf . the economist group . retrieved 26 october 2012 . west karl 2015 08 15 . the economist becomes a family affair . the guardian . london the guardian . retrieved 2015 08 15 . pearson the education and publishing giant that has held a non controlling 50 % stake since 1928 is selling the holding for 469m . the deal will make italy s agnelli family founders of the fiat car empire the largest shareholder a b c d e f g our history . the economist group . retrieved 15 december 2012 . moses lucia economist launches online ad net adweek 27 october 2010 . retrieved 12 july 2010 . the economist group acquires tvc group in move to create content . pr week . 14 march 2012 . retrieved 15 december 2012 . directors . the economist group . retrieved 18 february 2015 . directors . the economist group . retrieved 15 december 2012 . trustees . the economist group . retrieved 15 april 2013 . external links edit the economist group economist group companies grouped at opencorporates 2015 ownership change http www.economist.com news leaders 21660919 only second time our history ownership economist changes new chapter http www.economistgroup.com our news press releases 2015 the economist group strengthens independence through share buy back from pearson.html http www.bloomberg.com news articles 2015 08 12 pearson to sell economist stake for 731 million to exit news http qz.com 477743 the economist is being sold to rich italian investors and to the economist itself v t e the economist group publications current the economist 1843 roll call congressional quarterly former cfo european voice subsidiaries and divisions economist intelligence unit economist corporate network capitol advantage congress.org people walter layton 1st baron layton james wilson other business international corporation global liveability survey category links to related articles v t e pearson plc financial times group the banker fdi investors chronicle money management pwm vedomosti 33 % pearson education pearson school addison wesley dorling kindersley heinemann outside us modern curriculum press prentice hall scott foresman silver burdett york notes pearson higher education addison wesley allyn & bacon benjamin cummings longman prentice hall propero pearson professional 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