Difference between revisions of "Andrew Knight"

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|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Knight_(journalist)
 
|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Knight_(journalist)
 
|parents=M. W. B. Knight, S. E. F. Knight
 
|parents=M. W. B. Knight, S. E. F. Knight
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|image=Knight Andrew.png
 
|birth_date=1 November 1939
 
|birth_date=1 November 1939
 
|nationality=UK
 
|nationality=UK
 
|birth_place=England, UK
 
|birth_place=England, UK
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|description=[[Editor of The Economist]] for 12 years
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|description=[[Editor of The Economist]] for 12 years. Right hand man to [[Conrad Black]] and [[Rupert Murdoch]]. 19 Bilderbergs, [[Bilderberg Steering committee]] member.
 
|death_date=
 
|death_date=
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|alma_mater=Ampleforth College
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|alma_mater=Ampleforth College,Balliol College (Oxford)
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|image=Andrew Knight.jpg
 
 
|constitutes=editor, deep state operative?
 
|constitutes=editor, deep state operative?
 
|powerbase=http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/Andrew_Knight
 
|powerbase=http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/Andrew_Knight
 
|sourcewatch=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Andrew_Knight
 
|sourcewatch=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Andrew_Knight
 
|spouses=Victoria Catherine Brittain,  Sabiha Rumani Malik, Marita Crawley
 
|spouses=Victoria Catherine Brittain,  Sabiha Rumani Malik, Marita Crawley
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|children=Amaryllis Knight, India Knight
 
|employment={{job
 
|employment={{job
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|title=Director
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|start=March 1990
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|end=2012
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|employer=News Corp
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|description=19 Bilderbergs, [[Bilderberg Steering committee]] member
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}}{{job
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|title=Editor-in-chief
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|start=1986
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|end=1989
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|employer=Daily Telegraph
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|description=19 Bilderbergs, [[Bilderberg Steering committee]] member
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}}{{job
 
|title=The Economist/Editor
 
|title=The Economist/Editor
 
|start=October 1974
 
|start=October 1974
 
|end=1986
 
|end=1986
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|description=19 Bilderbergs, [[Bilderberg Steering committee]] member}}
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|description=19 Bilderbergs, [[Bilderberg Steering committee]] member
 
}}
 
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'''Andrew Knight''' was a member of the [[Bilderberg Steering committee]].
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}}
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'''Andrew Knight''' is chair of of [[Times Newspapers]], and a former British newspaper editor who was right hand man to [[Conrad Black]] and [[Rupert Murdoch]].
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Knight was educated at [[Ampleforth College]] in Yorkshire; a [[Catholic]] boarding school dubbed the 'Catholic Eton' where Cardinal [[Basil Hume]] was reportedly Knight's Housemaster. Hume was involved in the [[UK/VIPaedophile]] deep state network, where he hushed up sexual abuse at the school and nominated [[Jimmy Savile]] for a London club membership.
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Knight was named editor of ''[[The Economist]]'' in October 1974. Aged 34, he was the second youngest [[The Economist/Editor|editor]] in the magazine's history. A member of the [[Bilderberg Steering committee]], he has also had long involvement with the [[Rothschild family]].
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==Background==
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Knight was born on 1 November 1939 to W. B. Knight and S. E. F. Knight. According to ''The Guardian'' Knight is the son of a 'middle, middle class' air force officer. <ref>Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', ''Guardian'', 18 January 1993</ref> 
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He was educated at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire; a Catholic boarding school dubbed the 'Catholic Eton' where Cardinal [[Basil Hume]] was reportedly Knight's Housemaster. <ref>John Walsh, 'John Walsh on Monday: The soul of Britain on a summer night', ''Independent'', 28 June 1999</ref>. Knight was appointed Head Boy at the school. <ref>Maggie Brown, 'Media: Business as usual', ''Guardian'', 27 March 2006</ref> Cardinal Hume was involved in the [[UK/VIPaedophile]] deep state network, where he hushed up sexual abuse at the school.<ref>http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Ampleforth-child-abuse-scandal-hushed.1258869.jp</ref> In 1984, Hume nominated [[Jimmy Savile]] as a member of the [[Athenaeum]], a gentlemen's club in [[London]]'s Pall Mall.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20121021080808/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/celebritynews/9596850/Sir-Jimmy-Savile-causes-anguish-at-the-Athenaeum.html</ref>
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He went on to study Modern History at [[Balliol College, Oxford]] where he was close friends with the late [[Hugo Young]], who had also attended Ampleforth. <ref>Martin Kettle, 'Paragon of politicalists', ''Financial Times'', 24 September 2003</ref>.
  
 
==Career==
 
==Career==
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Knight was named editor of ''[[The Economist]]'' in October 1974. Aged 34, he was the second youngest [[The Economist/Editor|editor]] in the magazine's history.
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After graduating Knight spent two years working at the London merchant bankers, J. Henry Schroder Wagg (1961 to 1963). Reportedly 'disenchanted with the pace of promotion' he moved into journalism and in 1964 started work at the ''Investors Chronicle''. <ref>[http://www.brainandspine.org.uk Biography] from the Brain and Spine Foundation; Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', ''Guardian'', 18 January 1993</ref>
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===''The Economist''===
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In 1966 Knight joined ''[[The Economist]]'' on the international business and investment sections. From March 1968 to April 1970 he was in the Washington offices of the paper before returning to Europe to establish its European section and, in 1973, its Brussels offices. <ref>[http://www.brainandspine.org.uk Biography] from the Brain and Spine Foundation; Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', ''Guardian'', 18 January 1993</ref> After his posts in Washington and Brussels, Knight 'lobbied brazenly for the editorship of the paper, and got it, aged 34' <ref>Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', ''Guardian'', 18 January 1993</ref>. He was editor of ''[[The Economist]]'' from October 1974 until 1986, and was named International Editor of the Year by World Press Review in June 1981.
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Knight is said to have built on the pro-American legacy of his predecessors during his time as editor, <ref>Richard Gott, 'The Economist? A new history of the magazine reveals that it has more in common with the Guardian than might be expected', ''Guardian'', 30 August 1993</ref> and to have played an important role in expanding the magazine's international profile.
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In her 1993 book ''The Pursuit of Reason: The Economist 1843-1993'', Ruth Dudley Edwards wrote that during his time as editor, Knight was 'inexorably drawn to the great and famous' and became 'notorious for his success in forming relationships with important and influential people'. <ref>Richard Gott, 'The Economist? A new history of the magazine reveals that it has more in common with the Guardian than might be expected', ''Guardian'', 30 August 1993</ref> Another source told ''The Guardian'' that Knight's former colleagues remember him for his pretty looks, his hard work, his charm, and his undisguised fascination for people in power. One colleague was quoted as saying, 'He really saw journalism, I think, as a way to get close to them [powerful people]' <ref>Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', ''Guardian'', 18 January 1993</ref>.
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Knight's instinctive respect for power seems to have impacted on his editorial policy. When ''[[The Economist]]'' published an article by Knight's friend [[Henry Kissinger]] stating that the rightwing coup against Prince Sihanouk's Cambodian government in 1970 'took us completely by surprise', Samuel Thornton who had worked for American naval intelligence in Saigon wrote a letter to ''[[The Economist]]'' saying he distinctly remembered planning the coup with the approval of 'the highest level of government in Washington'. <ref>Francis Wheen, 'Wheen's world: Being Economist with the truth', ''Guardian'', 2 October 1996</ref> Knight however refused to print the letter, explaining that he had personally checked the allegations and found them to be untrue. According to ''The Guardian'', 'Knight's investigation consisted largely of conversations with two senior figures. One was [[Richard Helms]] - who as director of the CIA at the time of the coup was bound to deny the story. The other was [[Henry Kissinger|Kissinger]].' <ref>Francis Wheen, 'Wheen's world: Being Economist with the truth', ''Guardian'', 2 October 1996</ref>
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A notable aspect of Knight's legendary networking is his membership of the [[Bilderberg Group]]. Knight was at one time a London recruiting officer for the Group. <ref>Christopher Silvester, 'The diary', ''Independent on Sunday'', 30 January 2005</ref> His entry in ''Who's Who'' states that he was a member of the Steering Committee from 1980 until 1998. <ref>''Who's Who'', A & C Black, January 2007</ref> It is there he is said to have first met [[Conrad Black]] in 1985 <ref>'Keep An Eye On Conrad', ''Evening Standard'', 31 May 2006</ref>.
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Although it is not suggested anywhere that he specifically facilitated the introduction, Knight was present at the Lunch held at [[Chequers]] when [[Conrad Black]] first met [[Margaret Thatcher]]. According to ''The Guardian'', '[[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]], [Charles] [[Charles Powell|Powell]] and Knight sat and listened with a degree of awestruck wonder while [[Conrad Black|Black]], the Canadian son of a beer-bottling tycoon, regaled them with his encyclopaedic knowledge of English history' <ref>Kamal Ahmed and Michael White, 'Citizen Conrad Conrad Black's elevation to the peerage will complete his quest to join the British establishment', ''Guardian'', 10 June 1999</ref>.
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===The Telegraph Group===
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Knight is widely reported to have tipped off [[Conrad Black]] about the opportunity to acquire the Telegraph Group. According to [[Sarah Sands]], Knight set up for Black 'the chance to pose as white knight' for the failing paper. <ref>Sarah Sands, 'Magnificent, but preposterous', ''Independent on Sunday'', 15 July 2007</ref> Knight is said to have personally made £15 million out of the deal. <ref>e.g. Edward Welsh, 'Pique practice', ''The Times'', 11 May 1998</ref> In January 1986 he was appointed Chief Executive by Black, who 'allowed Knight to make all the top appointments, and watched from afar.' <ref>Neil Collins, 'Judgment Day', ''Evening Standard'', 13 March 2007</ref> According to Max Hastings (who was appointed editor) 'Knight was clearly understood to be Conrad's viceroy, with plenary powers' <ref>Max Hastings, ''Editor: An Inside Story of Newspapers'' (Macmillan, 2002) p.45</ref>.
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Knight famously sacked then ''Sunday Telegraph'' editor Peregrine Worsthorne and replaced the daily editor Bill Deedes with Max Hastings. [[Michael Berry|Lord Hartwell]], the paper's former owner was not consulted on Hastings's appointment and responded angrily. Knight is said to have replied to [[Michael Berry|Lord Hartwell]], that he and Black decided not to tell him because 'we thought you might disagree.' <ref>David McKie, 'Profile: Lord Deedes', ''Guardian'', 15 September 1997</ref> In ''Editor: An Inside Story of Newspapers'', Hastings described Knight as follows:
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{{QB|He was an unembarrassed name dropper, and had acquired ample ordnance for this purpose over years of networking around the world…I had spent twenty years as a journalist learning to treat the representatives of wealth and power with respect but without deference. Andrew cherished an inherent regard for the possessors of riches. <ref>Max Hastings, ''Editor: An Inside Story of Newspapers'', p.45</ref>}}
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Hastings recalls receiving 'cool, rational, and well argued' memos from Knight advising him on the paper's political stance, but does not seem to have considered this improper saying he welcomed the advice because of his lack of experience. <ref>Max Hastings, ''Editor: An Inside Story of Newspapers'', p.45</ref>
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===Move to News International===
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On 19 September 1989 Knight announced his resignation as Chief Executive of the Telegraph Group and said 'he was off to enjoy his newly gained fortune and to contemplate his garden.' <ref>Max Hastings, ''Editor: An Inside Story of Newspapers'', p.45</ref> In fact he had made a secret deal with [[Rupert Murdoch]]. According to [[Andrew Neil]], Murdoch told him in July 1989, 'I've done a deal with Andrew Knight. He won't be coming here for a while but once he has prised himself away from Conrad he's ours.' <ref>Andrew Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', p. 191</ref> Only in January 1990 did Knight announce that he would join [[News International]].
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According to Hastings, Knight had long been an admirer of [[Rupert Murdoch]] and his decision came as no surprise to observers. Nevertheless, [[Conrad Black]], as ''The Economist'' put it, 'went ballistic, shooting off pages of angry sarcasm to Mr Knight-and the press' <ref>'Conrad Black: Tongue-lashing', ''Economist'', 3 February 1996</ref>. The day after Knight announced his resignation, Black hand-wrote a letter to Knight which he widely circulated. One passage read:
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{{QB|It seems to be a universally view among people whose friendship we both value in Britain, Canada and the United States, that your prolonged, (if sporadic) courtship with our principal competitor while continuing as the ostensible Chief Executive of ''The Daily Telegraph'', leading to a consummation just 80 days after retiring (awkwardly) as a director of ours, and with your pockets loaded with a net £14 million of free Telegraph stocks, raises substantial ethical questions.}}
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Knight replied with another letter refuting the accusations, which was also widely circulated. In it he described Black's reaction to his new appointment as 'the rather sad inaccuracies of a wounded lover'. <ref>Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', ''Guardian'', 18 January 1993</ref>
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In March 1990, as planned, Knight joined [[News International]] as Chairman. He was appointed a Director of News Corporation Ltd on 31 January 1991 <ref>Biography from the Brain and Spine Foundation, http://www.brainandspine.org.uk</ref>. As Andrew Neil puts it: 'To give symbolic significance to this seismic shift, Andrew was to occupy Rupert's massive office'. <ref>Andrew Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', p. 191</ref> Catherine Bennett describes Knight's office at as follows:
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{{QB|Another security man, polite, uniformed, leads you out through the rain, into what might be the service end of a sixties hospital: great swing doors, lifts big enough for trolleys, draughty corridors clad in orange lino. A severe spending clampdown seems to be in progress here. Then, through swing doors, there are signs of administration, of money. Lino becomes peeling carpet tiles, which, a few miles further on, make way for fitted carpet, which opens into an expanse of luxy Trusthouse Forte lobby-style fittings, finished with pot plants and pretty girls. At last: wealth. The long journey is over. Here, behind walnut veneered doors, reposes Andrew Knight. Around him, another dramatic change in interior decoration tastefully, if unsubtly, announces status and authority. Out with the baby-pink banquettes, in with black leather and chrome le Corbusier armchairs, Eileen Gray tables, a Thonet rocking chair.' <ref>Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', ''Guardian'', 18 January 1993</ref>}}
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Andrew Neil described Knight's role as 'above all, to be the ambassador for [[News International]]. I can speak on behalf of ''The Sunday Times'', and [[Kelvin MacKenzie]] can speak on behalf of ''The Sun'',' Neil said, 'but only Andrew Knight in London can speak on behalf of all five papers.' <ref>Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', ''Guardian'', 18 January 1993</ref>
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At the company Knight became 'the acceptable face of Rupert Murdoch'. <ref>Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', ''Guardian'', 18 January 1993</ref> Hastings describes Knight as taking on a new role as 'Murdoch's apologist' - he made speeches, and wrote letters and articles refuting criticisms of Murdoch's monopoly over the UK media. For example when his old friend Hugo Young wrote a piece in ''The Guardian'' in 1993 criticising Murdoch's media monopoly, the paper later published a 1,044 word response from Knight calling for 'more kindergarten economics and less kindergarten emotion.' <ref>Andrew Knight, 'Tycoon for our times', ''Guardian'', 6 September 1993</ref> [[Andrew Neil]] writes that, 'When shareholders in [[News Corporation]] rumbled that [[Rupert Murdoch|Rupert]] had no heir apparent, Andrew was wheeled before the Financial Times as his natural successor'. <ref>Andrew Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', p. 191</ref>
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What precisely Knight was supposed to be doing in [[News International]] however was not clear, and colleagues were reportedly resentful that he didn't seem to have a defined role in an otherwise pressurised workplace. One of his colleagues was quoted as saying Knight's role was 'to ring Rupert Murdoch in the morning and tell him how wonderful he is, and he used to do it with Conrad Black, and now he's doing it with Rupert.' <ref>Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', ''Guardian'', 18 January 1993</ref>. Andrew Neil writes that, 'Andrew stroked Rupert's ego and Rupert regarded him as a genious' <ref>Andrew Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', p. 191</ref>.
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In 1993 Knight's position in News International was drastically reduced, but he remained a News Corporation non-executive director. <ref>Emily Bell, 'Media: The hottest seat in Murdochland', ''Observer'', 11 July 1999</ref> According to Roy Greenslade it was 'Knight's lack of involvement in the enterprise which led to Murdoch's disenchantment'. Below is the relevant extract from Greenslade's article explaining the dismissal:
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{{QB|Knight is known to believe that he was never given a proper chance to run the company as he wished. He argued that News International was too bureaucratic, talking of the 'heaviness' of management. This was largely perceived as code for his unhappiness at the roles played by two other key management figures, Gus Fischer and John Dux…The Murdoch view is the reverse of Knight's. He believes that Knight failed to live up to his expectations, refusing to show the kind of commitment which is second nature to most Murdoch executives. Over the years, when I worked at News International and since, I have heard many executives wonder at Knight's laid-back attitude. 'Andrew never puts his shoulder to the wheel,' was a favourite comment of one exasperated manager. Others would remark: 'What does Andrew Knight do all day?' <ref>Roy Greenslade, 'Wapping myths and mysteries', ''Guardian'', 29 November 1993</ref>}}
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Andrew Neil writes that, 'Rupert parted company with Andrew Knight because he came to regard him as too laid back and semi-detached.' <ref>Andrew Neil, ''Full Disclosure'', p. 190</ref> Other sources simply pointed out that Murdoch would never appoint a lieutenant, and that several individuals who appeared to be close to the tycoon have subsequently been shunned, perhaps signalling his desire to keep it in the family.
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Knight nevertheless enormously enriched himself during his time at [[News International]], According to Andrew Neil he acquiring £26 million in News Corporation shares which he placed in an offshore trust. <ref>Andrew Neil, Full Disclosure, p. 436</ref> ''The Guardian'' reported that he bought shares worth £28 million for £11.93 million. According to that article the Trust referred to by Neil was on the Channel Islands. <ref>'Pass Notes: No 110: Knight Offshore Trust' ''Guardian'', 16 March 1993</ref>
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In September 1996 Knight teamed up with the Rothschild Investment Trust to buy 24 percent of the local newspaper chain Home Counties. Then in April 1998 Home Counties revealed they were selling out to Eastern Counties Newspapers in a cash deal worth £58.3 million. Knight's reportedly made 7 million from the deal. <ref>Robert Lea, 'HCN holders' surprise sell-out to Eastern', Evening Standard, 21 April 1998; Cliff Feltham, 'Knight hits jackpot with GBP 58m HC sale', ''Daily Mail'', 22 April 1998</ref>
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After leaving [[News International]] Knight has kept a low profile and focused mainly on charity work.
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==Family and personal life==
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In 1966 Knight married [[Victoria Catherine Brittain]]. <ref>Who's Who, A & C Black, January 2007</ref> Brittain is a journalist and author and is also co-author with [[Moazzam Begg]] of his book ''Enemy Combatant''. She is a former associate foreign editor of ''The Guardian'' and previously worked at ''[[The Times]]''. She was also ITN's first woman reporter. <ref>'Freelance who became expert on Third World', ''The Times'', 26 August 1997; Profile at Guardian Unlimited Comment is Free</ref>
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Knight and Brittain were subsequently divorced and whilst posted in [[Brussels]] for ''[[The Economist]]'', Knight met [[Sabiha Rumani Malik]] who was to become his second wife. <ref>Who's Who, A & C Black, January 2007</ref> Malik's daughter [[Giselle Aertsenes]] (the future author who subsequently changed her name by deed poll to [[India Knight]]) then became Knight's stepdaughter.
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In 1991 Knight and Sabiha Malik divorced. Malik then married Knight's friend, the architect [[Norman Foster]]. After their divorce, Malik and Knight were subsequently not on speaking terms at least as of 2000, but Knight's stepdaughter India remains on good terms with him. <ref>Lynn Barber, 'India's Summer', ''Observer'', 2 July 2000</ref> In 1999 Sabiha Malik wrote an article in the ''Daily Telegraph'', commemorating the recently deceased Basil Hume in which she described Knight's condescending attitude to her during their marriage. She wrote that Knight used to say to her, 'if you had been to Oxford, you might have been as formidable as [[Sarah Hogg]]'. She recalled one incident where she was talking to [[Basil Hume]] (who was Knight's former housemaster at Ampleforth) about philosophy and politics, and Knight said to Hume, 'Don't get her into these conversations - she's hopeless' <ref>John Walsh, 'John Walsh on Monday: The soul of Britain on a summer night', ''Independent'', 28 June 1999</ref>.
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In 2006 Knight was married for the third time, this time to the British songwriter and playwright [[Marita Georgina Phillips Crawley]] <ref>''Who's Who'', A & C Black, January 2007</ref>.
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In December 2007 one of Knight's daughters Amaryllis was listed as one of 27 friends of Lachlan Murdoch's on the social networking site Facebook along with Conrad Black's step-nephew and publisher of ''Wired'' magazine, Matthew Doull. <ref>Amiliya Mychasuk and Emiko Terazono, 'Bancroft pokes the Murdochs', ''Financial Times'', 13 December 2007</ref>.
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==Charitable Institutions and other roles==
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Knight is a director of the [[Rothschild Investment Trust]] (RITCP); Chairman of the Jerwood Charity and Shipston Home Nursing; a member of the Advisory Board of the [[Centre of Economic Policy Research]] at Stanford University, California; a member of the Advisory Council of the [[Institute of International Studies]], Stanford University; Governor and member of the Council of Management of the [[Ditchley Foundation]]; Chairman of the Harlech Scholars' Trust; a Director of the Kirov Opera and Ballet (London).
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He was also formerly Chairman of the Ballet Rambert; Trustee of the [[Victoria & Albert Museum]]; Governor of Imperial College of Science & Technology; Council member of the [[Royal Institute of International Affairs]] <ref>Chatham House</ref>; member of the Board of Overseers at the [[Hoover Institution]], Stanford; member of the Steering Committee, [[Bilderberg Meetings]]; Council member of [[Templeton College, Oxford]]; non-executive Director of [[Reuters |Reuters Holdings plc]] and of Tandem Computers Inc. <ref>Biography from the Brain and Spine Foundation, http://www.brainandspine.org.uk</ref>
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==References==
 
==References==
 
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Latest revision as of 14:30, 13 September 2024

Person.png Andrew Knight   Powerbase SourcewatchRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(editor, deep state operative?)
Knight Andrew.png
Born1 November 1939
England, UK
NationalityUK
Alma materAmpleforth College, Balliol College (Oxford)
Parents • M. W. B. Knight
• S. E. F. Knight
Children • Amaryllis Knight
• India Knight
Spouse • Victoria Catherine Brittain
• Sabiha Rumani Malik
• Marita Crawley
Member ofBilderberg/Steering committee, Ditchley/Governors, Ditchley/UK, The Times/Board
Editor of The Economist for 12 years. Right hand man to Conrad Black and Rupert Murdoch. 19 Bilderbergs, Bilderberg Steering committee member.

Employment.png Director

In office
March 1990 - 2012
EmployerNews Corp
Succeeded byGideon Falter
19 Bilderbergs, Bilderberg Steering committee member

Employment.png The Economist/Editor Wikipedia-icon.png

In office
October 1974 - 1986
Preceded byAlastair Burnet
Succeeded byRupert L. Pennant-Rea
19 Bilderbergs, Bilderberg Steering committee member

Andrew Knight is chair of of Times Newspapers, and a former British newspaper editor who was right hand man to Conrad Black and Rupert Murdoch.

Knight was educated at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire; a Catholic boarding school dubbed the 'Catholic Eton' where Cardinal Basil Hume was reportedly Knight's Housemaster. Hume was involved in the UK/VIPaedophile deep state network, where he hushed up sexual abuse at the school and nominated Jimmy Savile for a London club membership.

Knight was named editor of The Economist in October 1974. Aged 34, he was the second youngest editor in the magazine's history. A member of the Bilderberg Steering committee, he has also had long involvement with the Rothschild family.

Background

Knight was born on 1 November 1939 to W. B. Knight and S. E. F. Knight. According to The Guardian Knight is the son of a 'middle, middle class' air force officer. [1]

He was educated at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire; a Catholic boarding school dubbed the 'Catholic Eton' where Cardinal Basil Hume was reportedly Knight's Housemaster. [2]. Knight was appointed Head Boy at the school. [3] Cardinal Hume was involved in the UK/VIPaedophile deep state network, where he hushed up sexual abuse at the school.[4] In 1984, Hume nominated Jimmy Savile as a member of the Athenaeum, a gentlemen's club in London's Pall Mall.[5]

He went on to study Modern History at Balliol College, Oxford where he was close friends with the late Hugo Young, who had also attended Ampleforth. [6].

Career

After graduating Knight spent two years working at the London merchant bankers, J. Henry Schroder Wagg (1961 to 1963). Reportedly 'disenchanted with the pace of promotion' he moved into journalism and in 1964 started work at the Investors Chronicle. [7]

The Economist

In 1966 Knight joined The Economist on the international business and investment sections. From March 1968 to April 1970 he was in the Washington offices of the paper before returning to Europe to establish its European section and, in 1973, its Brussels offices. [8] After his posts in Washington and Brussels, Knight 'lobbied brazenly for the editorship of the paper, and got it, aged 34' [9]. He was editor of The Economist from October 1974 until 1986, and was named International Editor of the Year by World Press Review in June 1981.

Knight is said to have built on the pro-American legacy of his predecessors during his time as editor, [10] and to have played an important role in expanding the magazine's international profile.

In her 1993 book The Pursuit of Reason: The Economist 1843-1993, Ruth Dudley Edwards wrote that during his time as editor, Knight was 'inexorably drawn to the great and famous' and became 'notorious for his success in forming relationships with important and influential people'. [11] Another source told The Guardian that Knight's former colleagues remember him for his pretty looks, his hard work, his charm, and his undisguised fascination for people in power. One colleague was quoted as saying, 'He really saw journalism, I think, as a way to get close to them [powerful people]' [12].

Knight's instinctive respect for power seems to have impacted on his editorial policy. When The Economist published an article by Knight's friend Henry Kissinger stating that the rightwing coup against Prince Sihanouk's Cambodian government in 1970 'took us completely by surprise', Samuel Thornton who had worked for American naval intelligence in Saigon wrote a letter to The Economist saying he distinctly remembered planning the coup with the approval of 'the highest level of government in Washington'. [13] Knight however refused to print the letter, explaining that he had personally checked the allegations and found them to be untrue. According to The Guardian, 'Knight's investigation consisted largely of conversations with two senior figures. One was Richard Helms - who as director of the CIA at the time of the coup was bound to deny the story. The other was Kissinger.' [14]

A notable aspect of Knight's legendary networking is his membership of the Bilderberg Group. Knight was at one time a London recruiting officer for the Group. [15] His entry in Who's Who states that he was a member of the Steering Committee from 1980 until 1998. [16] It is there he is said to have first met Conrad Black in 1985 [17].

Although it is not suggested anywhere that he specifically facilitated the introduction, Knight was present at the Lunch held at Chequers when Conrad Black first met Margaret Thatcher. According to The Guardian, 'Thatcher, [Charles] Powell and Knight sat and listened with a degree of awestruck wonder while Black, the Canadian son of a beer-bottling tycoon, regaled them with his encyclopaedic knowledge of English history' [18].

The Telegraph Group

Knight is widely reported to have tipped off Conrad Black about the opportunity to acquire the Telegraph Group. According to Sarah Sands, Knight set up for Black 'the chance to pose as white knight' for the failing paper. [19] Knight is said to have personally made £15 million out of the deal. [20] In January 1986 he was appointed Chief Executive by Black, who 'allowed Knight to make all the top appointments, and watched from afar.' [21] According to Max Hastings (who was appointed editor) 'Knight was clearly understood to be Conrad's viceroy, with plenary powers' [22].

Knight famously sacked then Sunday Telegraph editor Peregrine Worsthorne and replaced the daily editor Bill Deedes with Max Hastings. Lord Hartwell, the paper's former owner was not consulted on Hastings's appointment and responded angrily. Knight is said to have replied to Lord Hartwell, that he and Black decided not to tell him because 'we thought you might disagree.' [23] In Editor: An Inside Story of Newspapers, Hastings described Knight as follows:

He was an unembarrassed name dropper, and had acquired ample ordnance for this purpose over years of networking around the world…I had spent twenty years as a journalist learning to treat the representatives of wealth and power with respect but without deference. Andrew cherished an inherent regard for the possessors of riches. [24]

Hastings recalls receiving 'cool, rational, and well argued' memos from Knight advising him on the paper's political stance, but does not seem to have considered this improper saying he welcomed the advice because of his lack of experience. [25]

Move to News International

On 19 September 1989 Knight announced his resignation as Chief Executive of the Telegraph Group and said 'he was off to enjoy his newly gained fortune and to contemplate his garden.' [26] In fact he had made a secret deal with Rupert Murdoch. According to Andrew Neil, Murdoch told him in July 1989, 'I've done a deal with Andrew Knight. He won't be coming here for a while but once he has prised himself away from Conrad he's ours.' [27] Only in January 1990 did Knight announce that he would join News International.

According to Hastings, Knight had long been an admirer of Rupert Murdoch and his decision came as no surprise to observers. Nevertheless, Conrad Black, as The Economist put it, 'went ballistic, shooting off pages of angry sarcasm to Mr Knight-and the press' [28]. The day after Knight announced his resignation, Black hand-wrote a letter to Knight which he widely circulated. One passage read:


It seems to be a universally view among people whose friendship we both value in Britain, Canada and the United States, that your prolonged, (if sporadic) courtship with our principal competitor while continuing as the ostensible Chief Executive of The Daily Telegraph, leading to a consummation just 80 days after retiring (awkwardly) as a director of ours, and with your pockets loaded with a net £14 million of free Telegraph stocks, raises substantial ethical questions.

Knight replied with another letter refuting the accusations, which was also widely circulated. In it he described Black's reaction to his new appointment as 'the rather sad inaccuracies of a wounded lover'. [29]

In March 1990, as planned, Knight joined News International as Chairman. He was appointed a Director of News Corporation Ltd on 31 January 1991 [30]. As Andrew Neil puts it: 'To give symbolic significance to this seismic shift, Andrew was to occupy Rupert's massive office'. [31] Catherine Bennett describes Knight's office at as follows:


Another security man, polite, uniformed, leads you out through the rain, into what might be the service end of a sixties hospital: great swing doors, lifts big enough for trolleys, draughty corridors clad in orange lino. A severe spending clampdown seems to be in progress here. Then, through swing doors, there are signs of administration, of money. Lino becomes peeling carpet tiles, which, a few miles further on, make way for fitted carpet, which opens into an expanse of luxy Trusthouse Forte lobby-style fittings, finished with pot plants and pretty girls. At last: wealth. The long journey is over. Here, behind walnut veneered doors, reposes Andrew Knight. Around him, another dramatic change in interior decoration tastefully, if unsubtly, announces status and authority. Out with the baby-pink banquettes, in with black leather and chrome le Corbusier armchairs, Eileen Gray tables, a Thonet rocking chair.' [32]

Andrew Neil described Knight's role as 'above all, to be the ambassador for News International. I can speak on behalf of The Sunday Times, and Kelvin MacKenzie can speak on behalf of The Sun,' Neil said, 'but only Andrew Knight in London can speak on behalf of all five papers.' [33]

At the company Knight became 'the acceptable face of Rupert Murdoch'. [34] Hastings describes Knight as taking on a new role as 'Murdoch's apologist' - he made speeches, and wrote letters and articles refuting criticisms of Murdoch's monopoly over the UK media. For example when his old friend Hugo Young wrote a piece in The Guardian in 1993 criticising Murdoch's media monopoly, the paper later published a 1,044 word response from Knight calling for 'more kindergarten economics and less kindergarten emotion.' [35] Andrew Neil writes that, 'When shareholders in News Corporation rumbled that Rupert had no heir apparent, Andrew was wheeled before the Financial Times as his natural successor'. [36]

What precisely Knight was supposed to be doing in News International however was not clear, and colleagues were reportedly resentful that he didn't seem to have a defined role in an otherwise pressurised workplace. One of his colleagues was quoted as saying Knight's role was 'to ring Rupert Murdoch in the morning and tell him how wonderful he is, and he used to do it with Conrad Black, and now he's doing it with Rupert.' [37]. Andrew Neil writes that, 'Andrew stroked Rupert's ego and Rupert regarded him as a genious' [38].

In 1993 Knight's position in News International was drastically reduced, but he remained a News Corporation non-executive director. [39] According to Roy Greenslade it was 'Knight's lack of involvement in the enterprise which led to Murdoch's disenchantment'. Below is the relevant extract from Greenslade's article explaining the dismissal:


Knight is known to believe that he was never given a proper chance to run the company as he wished. He argued that News International was too bureaucratic, talking of the 'heaviness' of management. This was largely perceived as code for his unhappiness at the roles played by two other key management figures, Gus Fischer and John Dux…The Murdoch view is the reverse of Knight's. He believes that Knight failed to live up to his expectations, refusing to show the kind of commitment which is second nature to most Murdoch executives. Over the years, when I worked at News International and since, I have heard many executives wonder at Knight's laid-back attitude. 'Andrew never puts his shoulder to the wheel,' was a favourite comment of one exasperated manager. Others would remark: 'What does Andrew Knight do all day?' [40]

Andrew Neil writes that, 'Rupert parted company with Andrew Knight because he came to regard him as too laid back and semi-detached.' [41] Other sources simply pointed out that Murdoch would never appoint a lieutenant, and that several individuals who appeared to be close to the tycoon have subsequently been shunned, perhaps signalling his desire to keep it in the family.

Knight nevertheless enormously enriched himself during his time at News International, According to Andrew Neil he acquiring £26 million in News Corporation shares which he placed in an offshore trust. [42] The Guardian reported that he bought shares worth £28 million for £11.93 million. According to that article the Trust referred to by Neil was on the Channel Islands. [43]

In September 1996 Knight teamed up with the Rothschild Investment Trust to buy 24 percent of the local newspaper chain Home Counties. Then in April 1998 Home Counties revealed they were selling out to Eastern Counties Newspapers in a cash deal worth £58.3 million. Knight's reportedly made 7 million from the deal. [44]

After leaving News International Knight has kept a low profile and focused mainly on charity work.

Family and personal life

In 1966 Knight married Victoria Catherine Brittain. [45] Brittain is a journalist and author and is also co-author with Moazzam Begg of his book Enemy Combatant. She is a former associate foreign editor of The Guardian and previously worked at The Times. She was also ITN's first woman reporter. [46]

Knight and Brittain were subsequently divorced and whilst posted in Brussels for The Economist, Knight met Sabiha Rumani Malik who was to become his second wife. [47] Malik's daughter Giselle Aertsenes (the future author who subsequently changed her name by deed poll to India Knight) then became Knight's stepdaughter.

In 1991 Knight and Sabiha Malik divorced. Malik then married Knight's friend, the architect Norman Foster. After their divorce, Malik and Knight were subsequently not on speaking terms at least as of 2000, but Knight's stepdaughter India remains on good terms with him. [48] In 1999 Sabiha Malik wrote an article in the Daily Telegraph, commemorating the recently deceased Basil Hume in which she described Knight's condescending attitude to her during their marriage. She wrote that Knight used to say to her, 'if you had been to Oxford, you might have been as formidable as Sarah Hogg'. She recalled one incident where she was talking to Basil Hume (who was Knight's former housemaster at Ampleforth) about philosophy and politics, and Knight said to Hume, 'Don't get her into these conversations - she's hopeless' [49].

In 2006 Knight was married for the third time, this time to the British songwriter and playwright Marita Georgina Phillips Crawley [50].

In December 2007 one of Knight's daughters Amaryllis was listed as one of 27 friends of Lachlan Murdoch's on the social networking site Facebook along with Conrad Black's step-nephew and publisher of Wired magazine, Matthew Doull. [51].

Charitable Institutions and other roles

Knight is a director of the Rothschild Investment Trust (RITCP); Chairman of the Jerwood Charity and Shipston Home Nursing; a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre of Economic Policy Research at Stanford University, California; a member of the Advisory Council of the Institute of International Studies, Stanford University; Governor and member of the Council of Management of the Ditchley Foundation; Chairman of the Harlech Scholars' Trust; a Director of the Kirov Opera and Ballet (London).

He was also formerly Chairman of the Ballet Rambert; Trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum; Governor of Imperial College of Science & Technology; Council member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs [52]; member of the Board of Overseers at the Hoover Institution, Stanford; member of the Steering Committee, Bilderberg Meetings; Council member of Templeton College, Oxford; non-executive Director of Reuters Holdings plc and of Tandem Computers Inc. [53]


 

Events Participated in

EventStartEndLocation(s)Description
Bilderberg/197525 April 197527 April 1975Turkey
Golden Dolphin Hotel
Cesme		The 24th Bilderberg Meeting, 98 guests
Bilderberg/197821 April 197823 April 1978US
New Jersey
Princeton University		The 26th Bilderberg, held in the US
Bilderberg/198018 April 198020 April 1980Germany
Aachen		The 28th Bilderberg, held in West Germany, unusually exposed by the Daily Mirror
Bilderberg/198115 May 198117 May 1981Switzerland
Palace Hotel
Bürgenstock		The 29th Bilderberg
Bilderberg/198214 May 198216 May 1982Norway
Sandefjord		The 30th Bilderberg, held in Norway.
Bilderberg/198313 May 198315 May 1983Canada
Quebec
Château Montebello		The 31st Bilderberg, held in Canada
Bilderberg/198411 May 198413 May 1984Sweden
Saltsjöbaden		The 32nd Bilderberg, held in Sweden
Bilderberg/198510 May 198512 May 1985New York
US
Arrowwood of Westchester
Rye Brook		The 33rd Bilderberg, held in Canada
Bilderberg/198625 April 198627 April 1986Scotland
Gleneagles Hotel		The 34th Bilderberg, 109 participants
Bilderberg/198724 April 198726 April 1987Italy
Cernobbio		35th Bilderberg, in Italy, 106 participants
Bilderberg/19883 June 19885 June 1988Austria
Interalpen-Hotel
Telfs-Buchen		The 36th meeting, 114 participants
Bilderberg/198912 May 198914 May 1989Spain
Galicia
La Toja Island		37th Bilderberg meeting, 110 guests
Bilderberg/199010 May 199013 May 1990New York
US
Glen Cove		38th Bilderberg meeting, 119 guests
Bilderberg/19916 June 19919 June 1991Germany
Baden-Baden
Steigenberger Hotel Badischer Hof		The 39th Bilderberg, 114 guests
Bilderberg/199221 May 199224 May 1992France
Royal Club Evian
Evian-les-Bains		The 40th Bilderberg. It had 121 participants.
Bilderberg/199322 April 199325 April 1993Greece
Nafsika Astir Palace Hotel
Vouliagmeni		The 41st Bilderberg, held in Greece
Bilderberg/19942 June 19945 June 1994Finland
Helsinki		The 42nd Bilderberg, in Helsinki.
Bilderberg/19958 June 199511 June 1995Greece
Nafsika Astir Palace Hotel
Vouliagmeni		The 43rd Bilderberg. Held at the Burgenstock Hotel in Burgenstock, Switzerland.
Bilderberg/199630 May 19962 June 1996Canada
Toronto		The 44th Bilderberg, held in Canada
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References

  1. ↑ Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', Guardian, 18 January 1993
  2. ↑ John Walsh, 'John Walsh on Monday: The soul of Britain on a summer night', Independent, 28 June 1999
  3. ↑ Maggie Brown, 'Media: Business as usual', Guardian, 27 March 2006
  4. ↑ http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Ampleforth-child-abuse-scandal-hushed.1258869.jp
  5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20121021080808/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/celebritynews/9596850/Sir-Jimmy-Savile-causes-anguish-at-the-Athenaeum.html
  6. ↑ Martin Kettle, 'Paragon of politicalists', Financial Times, 24 September 2003
  7. ↑ Biography from the Brain and Spine Foundation; Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', Guardian, 18 January 1993
  8. ↑ Biography from the Brain and Spine Foundation; Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', Guardian, 18 January 1993
  9. ↑ Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', Guardian, 18 January 1993
  10. ↑ Richard Gott, 'The Economist? A new history of the magazine reveals that it has more in common with the Guardian than might be expected', Guardian, 30 August 1993
  11. ↑ Richard Gott, 'The Economist? A new history of the magazine reveals that it has more in common with the Guardian than might be expected', Guardian, 30 August 1993
  12. ↑ Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', Guardian, 18 January 1993
  13. ↑ Francis Wheen, 'Wheen's world: Being Economist with the truth', Guardian, 2 October 1996
  14. ↑ Francis Wheen, 'Wheen's world: Being Economist with the truth', Guardian, 2 October 1996
  15. ↑ Christopher Silvester, 'The diary', Independent on Sunday, 30 January 2005
  16. ↑ Who's Who, A & C Black, January 2007
  17. ↑ 'Keep An Eye On Conrad', Evening Standard, 31 May 2006
  18. ↑ Kamal Ahmed and Michael White, 'Citizen Conrad Conrad Black's elevation to the peerage will complete his quest to join the British establishment', Guardian, 10 June 1999
  19. ↑ Sarah Sands, 'Magnificent, but preposterous', Independent on Sunday, 15 July 2007
  20. ↑ e.g. Edward Welsh, 'Pique practice', The Times, 11 May 1998
  21. ↑ Neil Collins, 'Judgment Day', Evening Standard, 13 March 2007
  22. ↑ Max Hastings, Editor: An Inside Story of Newspapers (Macmillan, 2002) p.45
  23. ↑ David McKie, 'Profile: Lord Deedes', Guardian, 15 September 1997
  24. ↑ Max Hastings, Editor: An Inside Story of Newspapers, p.45
  25. ↑ Max Hastings, Editor: An Inside Story of Newspapers, p.45
  26. ↑ Max Hastings, Editor: An Inside Story of Newspapers, p.45
  27. ↑ Andrew Neil, Full Disclosure, p. 191
  28. ↑ 'Conrad Black: Tongue-lashing', Economist, 3 February 1996
  29. ↑ Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', Guardian, 18 January 1993
  30. ↑ Biography from the Brain and Spine Foundation, http://www.brainandspine.org.uk
  31. ↑ Andrew Neil, Full Disclosure, p. 191
  32. ↑ Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', Guardian, 18 January 1993
  33. ↑ Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', Guardian, 18 January 1993
  34. ↑ Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', Guardian, 18 January 1993
  35. ↑ Andrew Knight, 'Tycoon for our times', Guardian, 6 September 1993
  36. ↑ Andrew Neil, Full Disclosure, p. 191
  37. ↑ Catherine Bennett, 'Mr Murdoch's mixed-up kid', Guardian, 18 January 1993
  38. ↑ Andrew Neil, Full Disclosure, p. 191
  39. ↑ Emily Bell, 'Media: The hottest seat in Murdochland', Observer, 11 July 1999
  40. ↑ Roy Greenslade, 'Wapping myths and mysteries', Guardian, 29 November 1993
  41. ↑ Andrew Neil, Full Disclosure, p. 190
  42. ↑ Andrew Neil, Full Disclosure, p. 436
  43. ↑ 'Pass Notes: No 110: Knight Offshore Trust' Guardian, 16 March 1993
  44. ↑ Robert Lea, 'HCN holders' surprise sell-out to Eastern', Evening Standard, 21 April 1998; Cliff Feltham, 'Knight hits jackpot with GBP 58m HC sale', Daily Mail, 22 April 1998
  45. ↑ Who's Who, A & C Black, January 2007
  46. ↑ 'Freelance who became expert on Third World', The Times, 26 August 1997; Profile at Guardian Unlimited Comment is Free
  47. ↑ Who's Who, A & C Black, January 2007
  48. ↑ Lynn Barber, 'India's Summer', Observer, 2 July 2000
  49. ↑ John Walsh, 'John Walsh on Monday: The soul of Britain on a summer night', Independent, 28 June 1999
  50. ↑ Who's Who, A & C Black, January 2007
  51. ↑ Amiliya Mychasuk and Emiko Terazono, 'Bancroft pokes the Murdochs', Financial Times, 13 December 2007
  52. ↑ Chatham House
  53. ↑ Biography from the Brain and Spine Foundation, http://www.brainandspine.org.uk
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