Monday, Jan 30, 2023 • 27min
19. How to Build a Lasting Career in Financial Journalism - with James Fontanella Khan
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James Fontanella is a journalist at the FT since 2005, currently based in New York. He leads the M&A Due Diligence newsletter - and knows everything about the most exciting upcoming deals on the market.
With 17 years of experience under his belt, James walks us through the crazy stories that moulded his career, and reveals the most important lessons that have enabled him to create and maintain a long-lasting passion and drive for journalism.
As a corporate finance and deals editor, he tell us how we can turn seemingly uninspiring information into exciting insights and stories readers can’t look away from.
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James Fontanella Khan
Virginia Stagni
Katherine
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Transcript
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James Fontanella Khan
00:00
Have no dogmas, be critical about your own stereotypes, your own prejudice, ask questions, don't take things for granted and just be really flexible.
Share
Virginia Stagni
00:15
This is the talent show, a new podcast series from FT Talent, a hub of innovation from the
Financial Times
. It's hosted by the under-thirties for the under-thirties around the world.Share
00:27
This second series is about all the aspects the FT organization is covering today from editorial to development from data to talent. I am Virginia Stagni and this is a guide we designed to inspire you to be the one driving innovation and change. Welcome to the show.
Share
00:50
Hey James, hi, how are you? You're in
New York
, right?Share
James Fontanella Khan
00:53
Yeah, hi Virginia. I am in
New York
. It's pretty chilly here, but it's sunny, so I'm pretty happy.Share
Virginia Stagni
00:59
Super. Here is cold, rainy. But we're bringing a bit of sunshine because of the conversation today that we're gonna have about your role - as a journalist at the
Financial Times
- and of course, what does it mean to be a journalist today. Into of course your field, that is quite specific, into, of course, what is the word of due diligence - and we're going to explain a bit what you have built here at the Financial Times
in the past in the past years.Share
01:24
But also be that large, we are going to give a few suggestions to our listeners that might be interested in the world of journalism and entering in this editorial career. So thank you so much James for joining us, and thank you if you can be sharing a bit about your insights and your journey.
Share
01:44
I would really love to, talk about your journey until today. So when did you decide to become a journalist? How has been your journey until today? How long have you been at
FT
? Walk us through your career path, please?Share
James Fontanella Khan
02:01
Well, first of all, thanks again for having me Virginia. It was a pleasure to talk to you. And well, my journey as a journalist starts pretty much around the age of 18. So, there were two things I wanted to do in my life: one was to be a professional football or soccer player depending on where you're based in the world. What once that failed - I was doing pretty well and then things went downhill when I was around 17, 18.
Share
02:35
And then my other great passion was writing and kind of politics and kind of, I was curious about the world and I thought being a journalist was the best way to kind of feed that desire of discovering new things.
Share
02:47
And in many ways it kind of happened by mistake. I remember I used to travel with a very dear friend in the summers - I still do so - and we'd go to kind of new countries that we hadn't been to. And we found out that like journalists seem to have access to a lot of things, and so we found that it would be fun to play the game of being a journalist.
Share
03:11
So I'm not sure this is... probably there is a statute of limitation. But I was 17, I was in
Thailand
and I got a fake press card, and I would go around saying I'm a journalist and I'd like to ask you some questions, and then I basically turned the story. What I found out about a trip I was in Burma and I turned it into a story for an Italian magazine - I'm originally from Italy
as some might hear from my accent - and it was about a group of monks in the northern part of Burma who were planning a kind of revolution against the junta, at the time journalists were not really allowed into Burma, or Myanmar
, as its name now.Share
04:00
And so I had an exclusive and so this Italian magazine called which was like kind of a center-left magazine took my story. And basically, from there I kind of kept on feeding that passion when I was at university, I wrote for another Italian newspaper called
Il Manifesto,
it'll be surprising that's a Communist Italian paper.Share
Virginia Stagni
04:21
OK, now you are at FT, OK, ahah.
Share
James Fontanella Khan
04:21
It probably feeds into conspiracy theory that every reporter at the
FT
is secretly a Communist insurgent.Share
Virginia Stagni
04:30
A Communist, OK, ahah.
Share
James Fontanella Khan
04:32
But anyway I found out when I was at university - and this is true a lot of people that are interested in the world are interested in kind of a kind of diverse palette of information - that's how I found out about the FT.
Share
04:49
As as a young leftist, it was kind of it was maybe the paper of the enemy, but it was the best paper. It was the one that kind of gave you the news straight. It was less about being on one side or the other.
Share
04:60
And so I really really enjoyed it, and I thought: one I can't work for the Italian papers because they don't pay very well, and two I just want to be a foreign correspondent. And I thought the FT was one of those papers that actually had an incredible network of correspondence.
Share
05:18
And so what I did is I just kept in harassing people at the FT in a nice way, asking them if I could work there. And eventually, I ended up talking to a guy called James Lamont who is now a director of the FT, was our managing editor until recently. And he invited me to spend two weeks in
London
. I was at the time in London
.Share
05:46
And it was December 2005 and I pretty much never left. Then the old building which was O. S. B., but I never left the FT, I was about 22 years old, and I've been at the FT since.
Share
05:59
There's a story that changed my career really was a story about a young guy - again, this is a classic example of a story that the
FT
probably wouldn't have found interesting - and it was this guy called Alex Tew
, he was a 20 something man - a young man - who was trying to raise awareness around the fact that it was really expensive to go to university if he weren't from a wealthy family, despite the fact that the time university costs are much lower than they are now.Share
06:28
And so he set up a website called
The Million Dollar Homepage
, and he was selling a pixel, and each pixel was sold for a dollar, and the idea that then it kind of threw a marketing campaign that he launched, it was something that went viral, and a lot of brands started buying pixels on his website.Share
06:47
And I remember the FT was not interested in the story, I thought it was stupid and to some extent, it was a bit of a gimmick. But the fun thing was, so there was like he was selling the last I think 1,000 pixels on
Ebay
and he sold them for - I think it was like $200,000 - it was way more than $1 per pixel.Share
07:08
I wrote a small story and it went only online, because it wasn't deemed to be worthy of the newspaper at the time, so that was the kind of the arbitrage I kind of inserted myself in. And that story was I think one of the most-read stories of the year, then it was 2006.
Share
07:28
And anyway so I then pitched the story to the magazine saying, "Could I do a first person with this guy?". They thought, "Yeah sounds interesting".
Share
07:36
On the day that I had to meet
Alex Tew
for this interview he had to cancel, and he told me, "Oh I'm really sorry I've got trouble with the FBI
and stuff."Share
07:45
Something big happened, and I asked him, "What's going on?" "Really I can't really tell you..." And I said, "Come on tell me it's all off the record."
Share
07:54
And and then he told me that like effectively - and I can say this because this has now been fully disclosed - he told me that his website had been kidnapped by a Russian hacker and been under kind of
Ddos
attack which was something that was happening to a lot of corporations in the U. K. And we had the exclusive - in the moment a lot of attention was on his website - and so we splashed the story with this like, "The Million Dollar Homepage
has been kidnapped by Russian hackers".Share
08:21
And we beat everybody was my first front page scoop at the
FT
. And after that they told me, "Well we don't know exactly what you should be doing here but like you should stick around". But I should mention that at the time I was still a student. And so I was going to university and like doing the night shift at the FT
.Share
Virginia Stagni
08:42
I think that's so interesting because what I have a question for you before I make my point. Do you work with any late millennial
Gen-Z
at the moment, in your team? Under 30s, basically, like our listeners?Share
James Fontanella Khan
08:59
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Share
Virginia Stagni
08:59
You do. Okay, so, my question to you is there is a bit of, is a generational zero type at the moment that the younger generation, because of, you know, hold the opportunities that now thanks to scholarships and things that let you be into big brands universities, let's say, for some that are also unprivileged. So, I think there is more accessibility to vet elitists, ivy-league world, we don't want to pay their dues, they don't want do the time.
Share
09:34
And I think from your story, we can definitely tell that you did, right? So, to make your own way, you did extra shifts and that you needed to find the stories... that proactiveness was there.
Share
09:46
Do you actually see these thing in younger journalists? So you believe that it's a bit pre-concept, stereotype around the younger generations? Or do you actually see a bit of a difference even in on the editorial floor when it comes to younger employees?
Share
James Fontanella Khan
10:04
So I'll start by saying, I'm a skeptic of having strong stereotypes of any generation, and I'm an even bigger skeptic of creating fake intergenerational kind of fights. Yeah, and because so, as the listeners here might not know, I teach at the
University In New York
, it's a public university, where a lot of my students come from not very particularly privileged backgrounds.Share
10:34
And I know a lot of younger colleagues of mine who maybe have gone to very good universities, so are considered "elite". They work as hard as I did, if not more. So, I mean, I don't think it's true that people don't want to pay their dues.
Share
10:53
And I always try to tell people like, there's a lot of unglamorous aspects of journalists, so I came into it because of the grand, the glory and winning awards and breaking amazing stories. There's a lot of crap that you have to do, and that's something that is important to be aware of.
Share
Virginia Stagni
11:11
Let's share: what is that crap that you need to do?
Share
James Fontanella Khan
11:14
Well, it's like, endless boring meetings, internal politics, just like writing a story that you think is done, but your editor really needs it, understanding that you probably are helping the bigger system. Having to follow on something that somebody else wrote, so it's not an original story. Doing Sunday shifts when nothing is happening. Taking calls late at night. Getting up early and like trying to match again the stores... The glamorous part is I think it's only when you look back you can see the great moments.
Share
Virginia Stagni
11:51
That's you know, maybe when we are in the moment, that's maybe even typical from human nature, we are so into making things happen and also focusing on the duties, and then it's only when you look back you see the accomplishments, and I think that's quite natural for everyone to feel that way.
Share
12:11
And I find it interesting that working in journalism, if you are an editor or like if you work with words and opinions and so on, you, they say, you are drafting history, so you have a kind of a social role which I find it very precious for democracy.
Share
12:29
And I would love to better understand how does a typical day look like, work-wise of course, for you when there are no times especially you're based in
New York
, but you're always traveling here around Europe. If you act to actually follow everything especially - and then we're going to go into that your field and what you have been covering - how do you manage that?Share
James Fontanella Khan
12:55
So there was a time when I started this beat which is now kind of involved in many phases, we can get into that, but it is Arash Massoudi and I - the co-creator of Due Diligence with me - we didn't sleep much, that's a fact, and I don't think that's a healthy example for anybody to follow, so that was not great.
Share
13:17
We've actually now built a much bigger team which allows us to operate 24/7 effectively, and so that allows me to travel morem and it has freed me up to do other things to grow our newsletter - which is not much more than a newsletter - to do better journalism and kind of yeah share the burden effectively. And that that's been fantastic.
Share
Virginia Stagni
13:43
I have a question for you: how do you turn a financial statement - that I think is one of the most boring things that you can read - into an article that is appealing and sexy?
Share
James Fontanella Khan
13:53
First of all, it helps knowing how to read a balance sheet or financial statements, so that's point number one.
Share
14:00
And I think a great example was recently a colleague of ours, Robert Smith, who's probably one of the greatest journalist, financial journalist for sure, in the world.
Share
14:10
And about a week later he was reading
Softbank's
precisely balance sheet and he found out that Masayoshi Son
who's like the kind of founder of Softbank
, he's a very interesting, some people would say controversial entrepreneur, who's invested in tons of like startups like Uber
and so forth, had been effectively borrowing money from Softbank
, a lot of money, to fund side projects.Share
14:39
And so that was, if you want a scoop of interpretation, nobody probably either reads
balance sheets
like Rob does or even bothers anymore, partly because everybody's in a rush, so you're looking just at the headlines. So actually reading the small print is often where little gems are buried.Share
15:01
And so I think the art of really kind of taking your time looking into these statements. And at times it's a matter of like do it a week after the headlines have settled. And so there's always a bit of information, it could be about layoffs, it could be about an impairment, a write-off. So there's always something in there. Not always, but often there's something that you can like right off and kind of build on.
Share
Virginia Stagni
15:33
Yeah, and I think that's quite strategic as well as an insight. I think the FT and generally our kind of journalism, you're kind of journalists, is not about being the first one to publish, but it's to publish the most accurate or useful piece of information. And I think that's what differentiates.
Share
James Fontanella Khan
15:49
We also like to be the first, ideally, but...
Share
Virginia Stagni
15:53
Yes, definitely like being accurate and not just the first one, I think it's quite key for FT journalism. And I think it's so interesting what you said about
balance sheets
and I think it's so important to be able even to read the past of the company through the numbers.Share
16:13
James, what do you think are the top skills required for your role? Because I see in having worked with you briefly, that you're a journalist, but you said that you are also entrepreneurial, you need to think commercially, you need to think strategically about the future of a product where you build, you have a team to manage...
Share
16:33
So what are the kind of top skills that you would recommend someone that would like to shadow your journey into an organization like FT, that should be nurturing at the moment in their under-thirties?
Share
James Fontanella Khan
16:48
So I don't think there is a set of definitive skills and I think there's various kinds of journalists. The FT has allowed me to be entrepreneurial and I've kind of gone down that route, but effectively I think rule number one, have no dogmas. In the sense be critical about your own kind of stereotypes, your own prejudice. Ask questions, don't take things for granted. Don't be shy about asking what you might think is a dumb question because often it might be the smartest question that nobody else wants to ask. And just be really flexible. Again, just which means be open to doing different things.
Share
17:45
Being a journalist and a lot of people including myself, I think when you start your career as a journalist you think, "Oh, I don't want to be a financial journalist, that that sounds incredibly boring!" And the truth is it can be incredibly boring, but there's no different.
Share
18:00
Like being a financial journalist or being a sports journalist or being a music journalist, at the end of the day I think if you love the craft of being a journalist, you should be able to cover anything. And it's a matter of having empathy, understanding kind of what are the issues, the kind of the societal cleavages.
Share
18:24
I mean a lot of people tend to be soloist, I'm not. I thrive on working with the best. I was in fact trying to pair myself with people who are much better than me because that's the best way to learn. And I did that when I was 22, I do that now that I'm 39, and I will continue hopefully when I'm 60 and later.
Share
Virginia Stagni
18:46
I realize this Socratic approach, I think we can sum it up in that way, "know that you don't know nothing", and then just, you know, be open with the world.
Share
James Fontanella Khan
18:56
And I would add, I learn as much, so I learned from people who are older than me, I learned from my peers, I learned for people who are younger. So there's no, there's no kind of bias and I don't think I have and I'm really that aspect of... I'm always ready to be convinced I'm wrong about something.
Share
19:15
I have strong values, that doesn't mean I kind of flip-flop. But if you convinced me that my thesis was wrong, I will go down that I will experiment, I will test your alternative view.
Share
Virginia Stagni
19:30
So what is the kind of the biggest lesson that you have learned while traveling around the world? That's something you mentioned at the beginning right of your journey, that you were very curious, that you really wanted to see things, and traveling around. What's the best lesson out of this traveling, and of course for journalism and reporting, what has been even maybe a positive lesson out of a failure in that context?
Share
James Fontanella Khan
19:59
I think the number one lesson is: learn how to listen, as in in our role we should be doing. That's why I feel kind of always a bit uncomfortable doing most of the talking, I'm used to like asking questions and listening, and letting conversation - especially if you're not on tv or radio where it needs to be a bit more scripted - spend time, let people talk. There's no need to interject that, there's no need to impose your bias or correct people's, tell them that they're wrong or not. So lesson number one.
Share
20:38
Originality in a world where news has been commodified, being original, or at least having looking at the same thing but in a different way, brings value to our readers.
Share
Virginia Stagni
20:54
That's fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing all of these James. I really really appreciate that. If there is one special part about the Talent Show is that we allow - or we welcome actually not allow - our listeners and especially our FT Talent challengers to ask direct questions to experts like yourself about your role and your expertise. So we have two challenges for you. One is Katherine that is connected now.
Share
Katherine
21:23
Hello, my name is Katherine. I was a participant of the FT Talent Challenge in 2021. I'm originally from New Delhi. I'm working as a product manager with an IT Company called Brain Enterprises, based in Hyderabad.
Share
21:39
My question to James Fontanella Khan is a slightly personal one. It is said, the pen is a very mighty tool, especially in this globalized world where authentic news has taken on so much importance. So I'd like to know what you enjoy the most about journalism, and also what you dislike the most about journalism? What are truly the horrible downsides or hazards of the job? Thank you and looking forward to your response.
Share
James Fontanella Khan
22:06
That's a great question. Let's start from the negatives. I do feel at times in the era of the fact that the news never stops and there's like a sense of like, there are no more deadlines, when I started you worked to produce a newspaper. I mean you were online was there, but there was a sense of like we were still working for a product that was mainly a paper product.
Share
22:39
Here you feel often that you're in a tumble dryer and at times like a lot of things are published and that you're constantly chasing what other people are saying. So there's not enough time to focus on one story at a time. So often I'll be juggling 3-5 things at the same time, and that's stressful.
Share
22:56
On the flip side, the beauty of juggling five or six stories at the same time is exhilarating. It's the sense of the one thing I still truly love about this job is I'm constantly - and it's it's a bit of a might sound banal - but I'm learning a ton of stuff. I get to meet people, I get to be nosy and ask them questions. I get to be in places that I would have not had access to otherwise.
Share
23:27
And to do so in a way that I feel comfortable, which is to be slightly an outsider. I don't mind being the outsider and it allows me to kind of keep that kind of critical approach. And I often people see critical as negative. I see critical as like essential for for us to kind of improve as humans. And I really still enjoy that.
Share
23:59
And the other thing is also like working with a group of really smart people, I think I've been really lucky and blessed over my career that at every junction - and maybe this is a great thing just about the FT, but I'm sure it's not... I hope it's not - but yeah, I've kind of had the chance of working with some of the greatest minds and again, learning a lot from my colleagues. So that's been an enriching kind of experience.
Share
Virginia Stagni
24:30
That's great, thank you so much for sharing this James. Now, your question Nathan.
Share
Nathan
24:35
Hi, my name is Nathan. I was a participant in the FT Challenge in 2021. I'm from
India
, but I'm currently living in New York
. I worked at Columbia University as part of the financial instrument sector team. I focused there on how to mitigate climate risk in terms of disaster relief.Share
24:55
My question to Mr Khan is: to what extent is climate risk used has a lens for understanding corporate finance and deals? Thank you and looking forward to hearing from you.
Share
James Fontanella Khan
25:09
Yeah, that's a great question. And it's funny because I was talking with one of my colleagues on moral money in November.
Share
25:19
And we were just talking about how actually there are a ton of climate related deals at the moment, especially in the energy sector, as you'd expect, in a sense, as we kind of are shifting the kind of focus on energy transition becomes a priority. As well as the kind of the kind of crisis that we're experiencing with the war in Ukraine.
Share
25:42
As many of our listeners might be aware, Europe has been incredibly dependent on Russian kind of energy sources. And so the question of like diversifying that, and actually so M&A and kind of joint ventures and whatnot have become much more important.
Share
25:58
And more broadly, I think it's like shareholders of large kind of public, publicly held companies want to know that you know that the executives of the company they're invested in are thinking about energy transition. And so it's way less of a kind of back thought, it's really much on the forefront.
Share
Virginia Stagni
26:22
James, thank you so much for being with us. Thanks for sharing of course your journey and your perspectives and being so transparent with with us during the show and with our listeners. I really hope you enjoyed the definitely, and thanks to our listeners for tuning in for another episode of the show. Thank you, thank you, James!
Share
James Fontanella Khan
26:40
Thank you, bye-bye.
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James Fontanella Khan
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Katherine
Nathan