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John Gapper

Chief Business Commentator

John Gapper is associate editor and chief business commentator of the Financial Times. He writes a weekly column, appearing on Thursdays on the Comment page, about business trends and strategy. He also contributes leaders and other articles.

He has worked for the FT since 1987, covering labour relations, banking and the media. In 1991-92, he was a Harkness fellow of the Commonwealth Fund of New York, and studied US education and training at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Email John Gapper @johngapper (link opens in a new browser window)
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  • Thursday, 12 December, 2019
    Weekend long reads
    Inside LBC: the radio station capturing the political zeitgeist

    In a polarised time, the broadcaster has won listeners by embracing confrontation

  • Wednesday, 11 December, 2019
    Peloton Interactive LLC
    Peloton’s sexist Christmas ad has another problem

    Misjudged commercial is an example of an especially troublesome type of marketing mistake

  • Wednesday, 4 December, 2019
    TikTok Inc
    China’s internet interference is TikTok famous

    The video app loved by teenagers is powered by artificial intelligence and protectionism

  • Wednesday, 27 November, 2019
    Retail sector
    LVMH has become a luxury department store

    Bernard Arnault’s company is the modern incarnation of La Samaritaine and Neiman Marcus

  • Wednesday, 20 November, 2019
    Saudi Aramco IPO
    Saudi Aramco does not rule the world

    The valuation of an energy company cannot be engineered like the production of oil

  • Wednesday, 13 November, 2019
    Billionaires
    Billionaires have never had it so good

    Fortunes are created by technology and globalisation, as well as talent and enterprise

  • Friday, 8 November, 2019
    ReviewBiography and memoir
    The Ride of a Lifetime — life at the top of Disney

    The story of Robert Iger’s career as a leader is a thoughtful tale of surviving disruption

  • Wednesday, 6 November, 2019
    Automobiles
    Europe has a problem with its SUV habit

    The continent faces a new emissions scandal as family vehicles grow bigger and heavier

  • Monday, 4 November, 2019
    Corporate governance
    Do global businesses have too much power?

    Despite public anger, corporate regulation is likely to remain fragmented

  • Promoted Content
  • Wednesday, 30 October, 2019
    Tiffany & Co
    A diamond is not forever at a fashion house

    LVMH’s $14.5bn bid for Tiffany shows power passing from gem miners to luxury marketers

  • Wednesday, 23 October, 2019
    Agriculture
    The perfect apple and the Cosmic Crisp

    The biggest brand launch since the Pink Lady is changing the nature of the fruit

  • Wednesday, 16 October, 2019
    Leadership
    Dyson and the art of making quick decisions

    Companies from Boeing to HSBC have discovered the danger of delaying hard choices

  • Wednesday, 9 October, 2019
    Oil & Gas industry
    Big Oil should rebel against its customers

    Energy companies facing climate protests need to limit the wasteful use of their products

  • Wednesday, 2 October, 2019
    Tobacco
    Juul and the damage done to e-cigarettes

    The US is in danger of lurching from lax oversight of vaping to banning it unwisely

  • Wednesday, 25 September, 2019
    Wealth management
    Chasing wealth managers is a risky business

    Private banks are fighting to advise billionaires who want a lot for their money

  • Wednesday, 18 September, 2019
    We Company
    WeWork’s prophet has lost his charisma

    Adam Neumann transformed shared offices but failed to charm stock market investors

  • Wednesday, 11 September, 2019
    Jeffrey Epstein
    Jeffrey Epstein found the weakness of universities

    The need to raise donations led MIT’s Media Lab to a terrible misjudgment

  • Friday, 6 September, 2019
    ReviewHistory books
    The Anarchy — East India Company in the dock

    This riveting account of how a piratical corporation subjugated India resonates with today’s global capitalism

  • Wednesday, 4 September, 2019
    Tetra Pak International SA
    Invent a greener milk carton for the world

    Tetra Pak’s innovation overtook the glass bottle but it needs to be improved

  • Wednesday, 21 August, 2019
    Hong Kong politics
    Business in Hong Kong needs to stay strong

    Beijing wants to make companies impose obedience to China on protesting employees

  • Wednesday, 14 August, 2019
    Mobile payments
    The Apple Card is an expensive way to pay

    It is right for the Fed to lead America towards faster and more efficient bank payments

  • Wednesday, 7 August, 2019
    Intellectual property
    Katy Perry’s music is greater than the sum of its parts

    As courts crack down on copying and sampling in music, artistic freedom is threatened

  • Wednesday, 31 July, 2019
    Retail & Consumer industry
    Pets are making Wall Street wag its tail

    While owners cosset their companion animals, the industry is limiting price competition

  • Friday, 26 July, 2019
    FT Books Essay
    Death is not the end: the lucrative world of literary estates

    The growth of streaming services, demand for audio books and the globalisation of publishing are a boon for a writer’s descendants

  • Wednesday, 24 July, 2019
    Data protection
    Apple Watch must not be Big Brother

    Digital health and security data are too sensitive to be shared by technology companies

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