Jolyon Connell

Jon (Jolyon) Christopher Neill Connell (born 16 May 1952) is a British journalist and publisher. He founded The Week in 1995^[1] and MoneyWeek^[2] in 2000. He is also the founder of The Knowledge and the co-founder of Sunday Briefing.

British journalist and publisher, Jon Connell

A former Washington correspondent of The Sunday Times, and deputy editor of The Sunday Telegraph, he was Editor-in-Chief of The Week from its launch until 2003 and thereafter its Editorial Director before leaving the magazine in 2019 after its sale to the private equity firm, Exonent. He founded The Knowledge in 2021.  

Early life and career

Connell was brought up in Pitlochry, Scotland, and educated at Gordonstoun and St Andrews University (where he attained a First Class degree in English, winning three awards, including best arts degree). He was also awarded an honorary doctorate by St Andrews in 2000.

He began his career with The Press and Journal in Aberdeen,^[3] after doing a graduate trainee course for journalists in Newcastle. Two years later, in 1978, he joined The Sunday Times^[4] as a staff journalist, working first in the newsroom and then for the Insight team. In 1981 he was appointed defence correspondent of The Sunday Times, covering the Falklands War from London (including frequent TV and radio appearances as a defence commentator). He is the author of The New Maginot Line,^[5] published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1985.

He was Washington Correspondent of The Sunday Times from 1983 to 1987^[6] and helped set up the Sunday Correspondent newspaper in 1989 (as foreign editor and then associate editor). He then became deputy editor of The Sunday Telegraph in 1991.

Founding The Week

In 1994, Connell left The Sunday Telegraph to found The Week magazine, selling the family house in London to help fund the project. The magazine launched in May 1995 out of a small converted garage near Paddington, eventually moving to Notting Hill. The publisher Felix Dennis invested early on, eventually becoming the majority shareholder.^[7]

The Week grew quickly in the early days, adding some 10,000 readers a year. It was seen as a breakthrough in its format and approach to news and became the most successful news magazine in Britain launched since World War Two. In 1999 Connell was voted Editor’s Editor The Year by the British Society of Magazine Editors.

In 2000 he launched MoneyWeek,^[8][9] with Merryn Somerset Webb as editor. A year later The Week was launched in America. MoneyWeek was eventually sold to The Week and both magazines were eventually sold to the private equity firm, Exponent.

Connell Guides

In 2010, Connell launched Connell Guides,^[10] the aim being to help students to fully understand great works of literature. The guides are written by leading academics and bring in what the best critics say about great novels, plays and poems, in a similar way that The Week passes on the most interesting journalistic commentary.^[11] Five years later, a second series of guides was launched - on historical topics.

Connell Guides have been widely praised for their content by, among others, Helena Bonham Carter, Joanna Lumley, William Boyd, Robert Harris, Julian Fellowes and Tom Stoppard.^[12] A new series of books (All You Need to Know) followed in 2016. Both the guides and the All You Need to Know books have been serialised in The Times.

Other Ventures

In 2018, Connell launched Sunday Briefing, a short weekly briefing aimed at CEOs, outlining the global trends likely to affect business in the coming years.

Connell is also the publisher of Golf Quarterly,^[13] a magazine he set up with Tim Dickson 20 years ago. It provides its subscribers, four times a year, with an idiosyncratic view of the golfing world.

The Knowledge

After leaving The Week, Connell launched The Knowledge in 2021,^[14] with financial backing and support from Lord Rothermere and DGMT. The Knowledge, like The Week,^[15] seeks to distill the most interesting and surprising content from the world’s media, but does so on a daily basis as an email newsletter to subscribers.

It has grown quickly since its launch and now has a robust and growing subscriber base.

Personal life

Connell married Lady Alexandra Hay in 1989. He has a stepson, Ivar Wigan, and two daughters, Flora and Ciara. Flora works with him on The Knowledge. He lives in Wiltshire.

References

1. Cable, Amanda (17 August 2022). "Journalist Jon Connell reveals the risks he's taken during a stellar career". Metro. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
2. Dr Matthew Partridge (10 November 2015). "Jolyon Connell: forge ahead and deal with your mistakes". moneyweekuk. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
3. "My Greatest Mistake: Jolyon Connell, Editor of 'The Week' Magazine". The Independent. 1 July 2002. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
4. "My Greatest Mistake: Jolyon Connell, Editor of 'The Week' Magazine". The Independent. 1 July 2002. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
5. "Goodreads". Goodreads. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
6. "Interview With Andrew Neil and Jon Connell of the Sunday Times of London | The American Presidency Project". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
7. Sweney, Mark; @marksweney (31 May 2015). "Jon Connell: 'People increasingly want help with filtering out the noise'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
8. "Feeding a taste for bite-size news". The Observer. 17 April 2005. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
9. Dr Matthew Partridge (10 November 2015). "Jolyon Connell: forge ahead and deal with your mistakes". moneyweekuk. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
10. "Short and to the Point: A selection of the editor's letters from the f". Connell Guides. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
11. Introduction to Connell Guides., retrieved 7 August 2023
12. Helena Bonham Carter on poetry and her favourite poems., retrieved 7 August 2023
13. "Golf Quarterly". 6 July 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
14. "How Jon Connell is building a news digest for the 21st century - The Media Leader". 16 January 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
15. "A serious rival for The Week". Flashes & Flames. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2023.