Almar Latour is a media executive and current CEO of Dow Jones and Company.

Almar Latour
NationalityDutch
Alma materIndiana University of Pennsylvania (BA)
American University (MA)
Occupation(s)CEO, Dow Jones and Company
EmployerNews Corp
SpouseAbby
Children2, including Maude Latour
Websitewww.dowjones.com/team/almar-latour/

Early life and education edit

Latour grew up in Welten in the Netherlands. During his childhood education, he studied German, English, Dutch, and French.

Through the Fulbright Program, Latour came to the United States in 1990, where he attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Pennsylvania and graduated with Bachelor of Arts degrees in journalism and political science. While there, he worked as a features editor for the The Penn, the university's student newspaper. He then earned a master's degree from American University in Washington, D.C.[1]

Career edit

Latour began his career as a reporter for a newspaper at a Chautauqua, New York resort and interning at Dutch language and at The Washington Times and The Wall Street Journal, where he authored a front-page article for The Wall Street Journal Europe.[2]

In 1995, Latour was hired as a news assistant in the Washington, D.C. bureau of The Wall Street Journal. He later was assigned to the newspaper's London bureau and then to the newspaper's New York City headquarters, where he joined, and later led The Wall Street Journal's technology team. Latour helped lead the transformation and redesign of the newspaper's online presence, which helped it reach one million digital subscribers.[2][3][4]

In 2012, Latour became the executive editor of The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, and MarketWatch.[2]

In 2016, Latour was appointed editor and publisher of the newly formed Dow Jones Media Group, later renamed as Barron's Group.[5] As publisher he set ambitious goals for each brand. Between 2016 and 2019, Barron's grew its subscriber base by 125% to 299,000 subscribers.[6]

Dow Jones CEO edit

On May 4, 2020, Dow Jones announced Latour would replace William Lewis as CEO. He assumed the role on May 15, 2020.[3]

On July 21, 2020, more than 280 Journal journalists and Dow Jones staff members wrote a letter to Latour criticizing the opinion pages' "lack of fact-checking and transparency, and its apparent disregard for evidence," adding, "opinion articles often make assertions that are contradicted by WSJ reporting." The letter cited a June 2020 opinion article by the U.S. vice president Mike Pence that contained errors, asserting that "scrutinizing these numbers would have required no more than a Google search."[7][8]

Latour is reported to have a strained relationship with Matt Murray, editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, a Dow Jones publication.[9]

Personal life edit

Latour met his wife Abby, a journalist, in Stockholm. They live in New York City with their two daughters, one of whom is Maude Latour, a singer-songwriter.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ "IUP Alumni Community - Latour, Almour '94". IUP Alumni. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Gresh, Karen. "Onetime Dutch Exchange Student Directs Dow Jones Digital Empire". IUP Magazine. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Padilla, Mariel (May 4, 2020). "Almar Latour Is Named Chief Executive of Dow Jones". The New York Times. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  4. ^ Staps, Freek (August 25, 2015). "Want to create a more digital newsroom? Find your inner startup". Nieman Lab. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  5. ^ Pompeo, Joe (January 5, 2016). "Dow Jones creates new publishing unit". Politico. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  6. ^ Willens, Max (May 6, 2020). "'He knows how to navigate': New Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour is a former reporter who rose the ranks". Digiday. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  7. ^ Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A. (July 22, 2020). "WSJ Journalists Ask Publisher for Clearer Distinction Between News and Opinion Content". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  8. ^ McLaughlin, Aidan (July 22, 2020). "WSJ Reporters Call Out Misinformation and 'Disregard For Evidence' From Paper's Opinion Section in Scathing Letter". Mediaite. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  9. ^ Lee, Edmund (April 10, 2021). "Inside the Fight for the Future of The Wall Street Journal". The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2021.