Matthew John Symonds(born 20 December 1953) is a British journalist and, since 2018, the executive director of theLarry EllisonFoundation. He was a co-founder ofThe Independentin 1986.
Matthew Symonds | |
|---|---|
| Born | Matthew John Symonds 20 December 1953 |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Known for | Co-founder ofThe Independent |
| Children | 4, includingCarrie Johnson |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Boris Johnson(son-in-law) |
Born in 1953,[1]Symonds is the son ofJohn Beavan,[2]who at the time was London editor ofThe Guardian,[3]andBBC World ServicebroadcasterAnne Symonds.[2][4]He worked for the Mirror group, theFinancial Times,andThe Daily Telegraph,which he joined in November 1981 as economics leader writer, before in 1986 becoming a co-founder ofThe Independent,[5]withAndreas Whittam SmithandStephen Glover.The three had worked together atThe Daily Telegraphand had all left the newspaper towards the end ofLord Hartwell's ownership of it.[6]
After leavingThe Independent,Symonds was appointed as strategy director ofBBC World Service Television,then from 1996 to 2018 was on the staff ofThe Economist.While there, he received the Wincott Prize for financial journalism in 1998, and went on to serve as the magazine's political editor and technology editor, before his last job for it, as defence and diplomatic editor.[7]
Symonds said of himself in 1996 that he was an economic liberal, believing in the market, but also in individual liberty and freedom. He wrote that "...the only way in which you can find efficient and humane solutions to problems is to give people as much information and as much power over their own lives as possible."[5]
Symonds has a wife Alison, with whom he has three children.[5]
In 1988, he had another daughter,Carrie Symonds,withJosephine Lawrence McAfee,a lawyer atThe Independent.[8]Their daughter is now married to the former British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson.
Selected publication
edit- Softwar: an intimate portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle(Simon & Schuster, 2003,ISBN978-0743225052)[9]
References
edit- ^Mr Matthew John Symondsat companycheck.co.uk, accessed 24 June 2019
- ^abAnne Symonds, Broadcaster(obituary) inThe Daily Telegraph,6 March 2017
- ^Terence Lancaster,Obituary: Lord Ardwick,The Independent,19 August 1994
- ^2018 "Symonds, Matthew John, (born 20 Dec. 1953), Executive Director, Lawrence Ellison Foundation, since 2018." WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 24 Jul. 2019
- ^abcIsabel Wolff,How We MetinThe Independentdated with 18 February 1996, accessed 24 June 2019
- ^Stephen Glover,The Independent, reflections on the last twenty yearsinThe Independentdated 6 October 2006, accessed 24 June 2019
- ^Matthew Symonds IISS Trusteeat iiss.org, accessed 24 June 2019
- ^Dominic Midgley,Carrie Symonds: The steely blonde who’s whipped Boris into shapedated 14 June 2019 at express.co.uk, accessed 24 June 2019
- ^Matthew Symondsat simonandschuster /authors, accessed 24 June 2019