Patrick Sergeant

Patrick Sergeant
Born	Patrick John Rushton Sergeant (1924-03-17)March 17, 1924 Kent, England
Died	September 18, 2024(2024-09-18) (aged 100)
Occupation	Journalist
Years active	1945–2018
Known for	Euromoney
Spouse	Gillian Anne Wilks
Children	2

Sir Patrick John Rushton Sergeant (17 March 1924 – 18 September 2024) was a British journalist, investor and businessman who was the founder of Euromoney Institutional Investor. Previously, he served as the City Editor of the Daily Mail from 1960 to 1984.[1]

Early life and education

Patrick Sergeant was born on 17 March 1924 in King's Down, Kent.[2] He was the son of George Sergeant, a coal merchant, and Rene Sergeant, a converted Roman Catholic.[3] He attended Beaumont College after his mother insisted on it over his father's preference for Harrow.[3]

Career

During World War II, Sergeant served as a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) from 1945 to 1948, where he was stationed on corvettes.[2][3] After his military service, Sergeant joined Mullens & Co. a stockbroking firm and the official government broker in the bond market, with assistance from his aunt.[3] He began his career as a messenger, a role he described as menial. His transition to journalism occurred after meeting Oscar Hobson, the City editor of the News Chronicle which he joined as a reporter in 1948.[2] In 1953, he joined the Daily Mail, where he became joint deputy City editor.[3] His writing led to a regular column on his travels in the Soviet Union, which was later expanded into the book Another Road to Samarkand (1955).[3] He worked for the Daily Mail until 1984.[2] Later, he served as a director of Daily Mail and General Trust Plc from 1992 to 2004.[4]

In 1969, with financial backing from Viscount Rothermere, Sergeant launched Euromoney.[3] In 1984, Sergeant was knighted by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.[3]

Sergeant took retirement from the board of Euromoney in 2018.[5]

Writing

Sergeant authored several financial publications, including Money Matters (1967) and The Inflation Fighters Handbook (1976).[3] In 1979, he received the Wincott Award for Financial Journalist of the Year.[3]

Personal life and death

Sergeant lived in The Grove, Highgate from 1961.[6][3] He was married to Gillian Anne Wilks, a nurse-turned-artist from Cape Town, and they had two daughters: Emma and Harriet.[7]

Sergeant turned 100 on 17 March 2024,[6] and died on 18 September.[8]

References

1. "My Mentor: Patience Wheatcroft On Sir Patrick Sergeant". Archived from the original on 25 May 2022.
2. Attard, Bernard (28 January 2011). "London Stock Exchange oral history: interview with Sir Patrick Sergeant". Centre for Metropolitan History.
3. Sir Patrick, Sergeant. "Obituary". The Times. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
4. "Patrick John Rushton SERGEANT personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
5. InPublishing. "Sir Patrick Sergeant retires from Euromoney board".
6. Nevéus, Ingmar; Lundborg, Beatrice (12 May 2024). "Oligarkerna i London kämpar för att få behålla sina lyxbostäder" [Oligarchs in London struggle to keep their luxury homes]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish).
7. "Emma's brush with marriage". 16 November 1996. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
8. "Sir Patrick Sergeant, giant of financial journalism who founded the Euromoney magazine empire". The Telegraph. 19 September 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.