Hi there! This is the official website of journalist and author Spencer Jakab.
I’m the editor of “Heard on the Street” at The Wall Street Journal. It’s a storied financial and economic analysis opinion column that has run in the paper in one form or another since the 1920s. Before joining Heard as Deputy Editor in 2015 I wrote the “Ahead of the Tape” column which ran each weekday and previewed the day’s most important economic or business event. Prior to joining the WSJ I wrote “Lex” for Britain’s Financial Times. I got my start in journalism at Dow Jones Newswires where I wrote an investing column and reported about energy, contributing several pieces to Barron’s Magazine.
My first career was in finance. I lived in Europe for a decade, mostly working as an emerging markets stock analyst and later the head of a research team at a big bank. I learned a lot, traveled to some very cool places, but got bored with corporate life and decided to write about money instead of making so darn much of it.
Nearly everything I know about the world of finance was picked up on the job or through reading but, for what it’s worth, I earned a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University, a certificate from Columbia’s Harriman Institute, and a B.A. in political science from Brandeis University.
I can be reached at spencerjakabauthor (at) gmail.com and followed:
