With his purchase of a stake in The Economist, Stephen Smith, shown in Toronto in 2023, becomes the latest billionaire to invest in a major media platform.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
Canadian entrepreneur Stephen Smith plans to buy a minority stake in the Economist Group, the latest billionaire to purchase an interest in an influential media platform.
Mr. Smith, co-founder of mortgage lender First National Financial Corp. FN-T, has agreed to acquire a 26.7-per-cent stake in The Economist from Lynn Forester de Rothschild and her foundation through his family holding company, Smith Financial, the company confirmed Tuesday.
The Economist has 1.25 million subscribers and has successfully evolved from a weekly magazine to a digital platform. Approximately 70 per cent of subscribers read the publication online.
“This investment reflects Mr. Smith’s full support for The Economist’s long‑standing tradition of rigorous editorial independence and will see The Economist’s strategy and operations continue unaffected,” Smith Financial spokesperson Justin Brenner said in an e-mail.
Smith Financial declined to comment on the value of the purchase. The transaction still requires approval from The Economist’s board of trustees.
Ms. Forester de Rothschild put the holding up for sale in October, three years after the death of her husband, who served as chair of The Economist from 1972 to 1989. At the time, media analysts estimated the stake would fetch between £200-million and £400-million, or $360-million to $730-million.
Mr. Smith’s purchase is within that range, according to two sources familiar with the transaction. The Globe is not naming the sources because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the transaction.
Mr. Smith and his family – he and his wife have two sons and a daughter – will join several of Europe’s wealthiest families as owners of The Economist. Other shareholders include Italy’s Agnelli family, which owns 43.4 per cent of the platform, and members of the Cadbury and Schroder clans.
A copy of The Economist on a London news stand in 2015. With 1.25 million subscribers, the magazine has successfully evolved into a digital platform with influence in political and business circles.JACK TAYLOR/AFP / Getty Images
The Economist’s governance features multiple classes of shares, with no single shareholder permitted to control more than 20 per cent of the company’s votes. The structure is meant to preserve the platform’s independence.
Mr. Smith, 74, made his fortune in financial services as an investor and executive at First National, the country’s largest non-bank mortgage lender, as well as mortgage insurer Canada Guaranty Mortgage Insurance and private equity fund Peloton Capital Management. He is an ardent cyclist.
Mr. Smith also has a number of philanthropic interests. In 2023, he announced a $100-million gift designed to boost the Queen’s University engineering program to the top international ranks.
The donation to his alma mater marked the largest pledge ever made to a Canadian engineering school. Previously, the entrepreneur gave $50-million to what is now named the Smith School of Business at the Kingston university.
Mr. Smith and his wife, Diana Blake, have also supported Historica Canada, producer of the Heritage Minute television segments, the Royal Ontario Museum and Canadian media platform The Walrus.
His family’s investment in The Economist bridges business and philanthropy, as The Economist, while profitable, has clout and brand prestige that mean more to its owners than its financial results.
Originally founded in 1843 by a Scottish hat manufacturer looking to further the cause of free trade, The Economist now has 1,540 staff in 26 countries, including the United States, China and India.
In its half-year earnings report ending at the end of September, 2025, The Economist announced a half-year revenue of £170-million ($310-million), 4 per cent higher than the previous year.
The media company reported an operating profit of £20.2-million (about $37-million), up 23 per cent from the previous year, owing to “strong performance of digital advertising.”
The Economist prides itself on journalistic objectivity, opting not to use reporters’ bylines because the outlet’s “collective voice and personality matter more than the identities of individual journalists,” according to its website.
Over the past decade, self-made billionaires have acquired a number of media platforms. Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post and Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, purchased The Atlantic.
Investment bank Lazard Inc. advised Ms. Forester de Rothschild on the transaction. Barclays and law firm Torys LLP advised Smith Financial.