The trust shares of the company are held by trustees, whose consent is needed for certain corporate activities, such as the appointments of the Editor of The Economist and of the Chairman of the Group.
Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone PC, DL
Trustee since October 2005. Heads the board practice of Odgers Berndtson. Member of the House of Commons (1984-2005) and House of Lords from 2005. Member of the cabinet (1992-97), serving as secretary of state for health and then for national heritage. Chancellor of the University of Hull, member of the UK Council of the International Chamber of Commerce and of the International Advisory Panel of Chugai Pharmaceutical. Nonexecutive director of Smith & Nephew.
Tim Clark
Trustee since December 2009. Chair of WaterAid UK. Group senior adviser to G3 and a non-executive director of Big Yellow Group. Chairman of Hightide Festival Theatre, senior adviser to Chatham House and a member of the International Chamber of Commerce UK Governing Body, the Development Committee of the National Gallery, the International Advisory Board of Uria Menendez and the Advisory Board of the Centre for European Reform. Former senior partner of Slaughter and May.
Lord O'Donnell CB, KCB, GCB, FBA
Trustee since October 2012. Press secretary to Prime Minister John Major (1990-94). UK executive director on the boards of the IMF and the World Bank (1997-98). At the UK Treasury, appointed managing director of macroeconomic policy and international finance in 1999, serving as permanent secretary from 2002 to 2005. Appointed to the House of Lords in 2012, having served as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service from 2005 to 2011. Made a fellow of the British Academy in 2014. Chairman of Frontier Economics, a strategic adviser to TD Bank Group, a nonexecutive director at Brookfield Asset Management, and a visiting professor at the London School of Economics and University College London. President of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and chair of trustees of Pro Bono economics.
Dame Alison Carnwath
Trustee since January 2019. A senior adviser at Evercore. Chairman of the audit committee of BASF, member of the audit and chairman's committees of BP, chairman of the audit committee of Zurich Insurance Group, an independent director of both PACCAR and CICAP (Coller Capital), and chairman of the Livingbridge strategic advisory board. She is also a member of the UK Panel on Takeovers and Mergers. In the not-for-profit sector, she is a member of the Advisory Council of the St George’s Society of New York. She engages in a number of mentoring assignments both in the UK and overseas. Dame Alison Carnwath has been involved with Livingbridge Private Equity (formerly Isis Private Equity) for 17 years, where she was previously chairman of the investment committee and of the management board. Formerly a senior adviser at Lexicon, a managing director of Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette, a partner in the Phoenix Partnership (a corporate advisory and private equity business), and a director of J. Henry Schroder Wagg & Co (an investment banking subsidiary of Schroders). Past directorships include being non-executive chairman of Land Securities and a director of Man Group, Gallaher, Friends Provident, Barclays, and National Power, and chairman of Vitec Group. Dame Alison Carnwath is a graduate and a chartered accountant and has two honorary doctorates.