The Economist Group Ltd. - Introduction

Introduction

25 St. James's Street
London
SW1A 1HG
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44-20-7830-7000
Fax: +44-20-7839-2968
Web site: http://www.economist.com

Private Company (50% owned by The Financial Times Group/Pearson)

Incorporated: 1843
Employees: 942
Sales: £191 million ($342.7 million) (2004)
NAIC: 511110 Newspaper Publishers; 511120 Periodical Publishers; 519110 New Syndicates; 531190 Lessors of Other Real Estate Property; 541810 Advertising Agencies

The Economist Group Ltd. is the owner of the prestigious Economist brand. The group's flagship is the Economist weekly "newspaper." Published for more than 160 years, the Economist is one of the world's leading economic, news, and political opinion magazines, with a circulation of more than 900,000 in the early 2000s. Approximately one-third of the British-based group's sales come from the United States. Other members of the Economist brand family include the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a provider of business information and analysis, covering more than 200 international markets; Economist Conferences, which hosts roundtable meetings, conferences, and similar events for government and corporate groups in 50 countries; as well as a range of ancillary products sold through the company's Economist Shop in London and online. The Economist brand family accounted for more than 83 percent of the company's total revenues of £191 million ($342 million) in 2004. Other brands within The Economist Group include CFO, with its 500,000-plus circulation CFO magazine, and its CFO Asia and CFO Europe editions, as well as the CFO.com web site and CFO Enterprises product group. The Economist Group also controls the Capitol Hill-oriented Roll Call, said to be the second most widely read newspaper in Washington, D.C., behind the Washington Post. Approximately 82 percent of Roll Call's circulation of more than 17,000 is distributed free to Congressional and Senate members and their staffs. The Economist Group also has launched a similar publication, European Voice, targeting the European Parliament. The Economist Group has been 50 percent-owned by the Pearson publishing group, through its Financial Times Group, since 1928. The other 50 percent is controlled by a trust, in turned owned by a range of shareholders, allowing the Economist to continue its long tradition of objective editorial independence.