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Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire more than a quarter of The Economist Group from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, marking the first change in ownership for a decade at the publisher of the premium magazine.
Smith’s family holding company, Smith Financial, is to acquire a 26.9 per cent stake in the group from Forester de Rothschild, her family and her family foundation.
“This investment reflects Mr Smith’s full support for The Economist’s longstanding tradition of rigorous editorial independence and will see The Economist’s strategy and operations continue unaffected,” Smith Financial said in a statement.
The Economist, which was first published in 1843, confirmed the agreement over the sale, which remains subject to trustee and board approval. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Acquiring the stake marks Smith’s first large media investment. He co-founded First National Financial in 1988, just four years after he had been made bankrupt. The mortgage lender was acquired last year by investment groups including Brookfield in a C$2.9bn ($2.1bn) deal that saw Smith sell about two-thirds of his 37.4 per cent shareholding.
He also part-owns Canada Guaranty Mortgage Insurance and acquired lender Home Trust in 2023, merging it with Fairstone Bank of Canada in 2025. Smith serves as chair of proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis, which he co-owns.
The Rothschilds hired Lazard to sell their stake in The Economist — which includes shares carrying 20 per cent of the group’s voting rights — last year.
People close to the process say it attracted wealthy individuals, family offices and media groups that wanted to invest in the premium publication, which is widely read among the political and business elite.
The Economist Group — which includes the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research and analysis business — reported revenues of £368.5mn in 2025, up from £359.5mn the year before. Operating profit edged up to £48.1mn and subscriptions rose 3 per cent to 1.3mn.
The group has a complicated ownership structure of nearly 1,000 shareholders, ranging from family holdings to existing and former colleagues and their families.
The Rothschilds’ holding, which Smith is buying, includes ordinary shares and special ‘A’ shares, which will entitle him to a say in the appointment of board directors.
Exor, the investment vehicle of the Agnelli family, owns a 43.4 per cent stake in the group, including all of its special ‘B’ class shares. There are also shares held by trustees, whose consent is needed for certain corporate activities to protect The Economist’s editorial independence.
No single shareholder, or group of shareholders acting in concert, is entitled to exercise votes representing more than 20 per cent of total voting rights, in effect blocking any effort to gain majority control.