Max Foster

Max Foster (born 30 October 1972) is an Anchor-Correspondent for CNN International, based in London.

Education

Foster spent most of his childhood in Wiltshire, England where he attended Ridgeway School, Swindon and Dauntsey's School, Devizes. Foster read Business Administration at Cardiff University and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism at Highbury College, Portsmouth.^[1]

Early career

Foster started his career at the age of 16 on Hospital Radio Swindon with his own weekly entertainment programme. At University, he approached the local BBC office and was offered a reporter position on Rave, a national entertainment show on BBC Radio Five hosted by Rob Brydon. After spotting Anthony Hopkins at a local restaurant and requesting an interview, Foster secured an exclusive. He later gained a place at graduate journalism school, which included a work placement at BBC Wiltshire Sound in Swindon.^[2] Foster was offered a reporter contract and he stayed there for two years.

In 1997, Foster transferred to the BBC World Service as a business presenter-reporter and became a mainstay on the flagship Newshour programme. Foster made his name covering the Asian Financial Crisis and, at the age of 24, began hosting World Business Report (BBC World Service) and became the youngest regular presenter of a BBC network radio news programme.

In 2000, Foster went on attachment to BBC TV Business Programmes and accepted a permanent position there. He reported for Business Breakfast, BBC World and Working Lunch before taking up a full-time role on BBC Breakfast. Foster presented special coverage around the launch of the Euro^[3] and travelled widely around the UK as a live reporter. He had an exclusive on internet banking security which forced Abbey National (now Santander) to temporarily close down its online service, Cahoot.^[4] He also presented the business news and hosted Breakfast Briefing alongside Moira Stuart.

CNN

In 2005 Foster was approached by CNN International to become a London-based Business Anchor/Correspondent. He ended-up hosting special coverage around the failing health of Pope John Paul II^[1] and, soon after, was appointed permanent co-anchor of CNN Today with Monita Rajpal. In early 2008 he also took on CNN World News.

On CNN Today, Foster led special coverage of several major stories including the outbreak of the 2006 Lebanon War and the 2007 London car bombs. Foster broke the news that Hurricane Katrina had caused in a breach in the levees around New Orleans and anchored a live six hour simulcast on CNN and CNN International during the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Foster followed the early development of the street art movement by reporting on Banksy and Adam Neate. His candid, early, interview with bestselling author Stephenie Meyer^[5] has been widely quoted in books and magazines.

In April 2009, Foster was promoted to primetime on CNN International where he anchored Connect the World and Quest Means Business. In this role he has interviewed all living Prime Ministers of the Britain^[6][7][8]; other Prime Ministers including those of Iraq, Sweden and Haiti;^[2] presidents of the European Commission, Georgia and the Maldives; business leaders including Bill Gates,^[9] Alan Mulally,^[10] Jack Dorsey,^[11] Bob Dudley^[12] and Steve Jobs;^[13] and celebrities like Dolly Parton,^[14] Diddy,^[15] Keith Richards,^[16] Michael Cain,^[17] Carrie Underwood,^[18] Amitabh Bachchan^[19] and George Lucas.

Foster devised a monthly show called Edit Room for CNN which went to air in June 2010 for a year. In it, he discussed news coverage with notable guests including Emma Thompson,^[20] P. J. O'Rourke^[21] and the photojournalist Tim Hetherington^[22] shortly before he was killed in Libya.^[23]

After reporting on the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton, Foster given the additional title of Royal Correspondent. He travelled with The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their tours to North America (2011)^[24] and The South Pacific (2012).^[25] He travelled with Prince Harry to the Caribbean in 2012^[26] and to the United States in 2013.^[27]

Foster's 2012 interview with The Queen of Denmark^[28] was described by The Times (14th Jan 2012) as "remarkable". He also secured the first interview with Prince William after the birth of his son^[29] which made headlines worldwide.^{[30][31][32][33][34][35][36]} Other royal exclusives^[37][38][39] have been picked up by The Daily Mail^[40] and The Daily Telegraph.^[41][42][43] Foster has been quoted by various newspapers including The Washington Post^[44] and has been used as a royal commentator by ABC Radio National,^[45] BBC One (Diamond Jubilee special, 5 June 2012) and BBC Radio Five Live (Breakfast, 19th Sept 2012).

In April 2013 Foster presented a TEDx talk at St Andrew's University where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met.^[46] The title of the talk was 'Kate Middleton is the biggest story in the world' and he used Google Trends to show there was more interest in her than any other living figure. He said that because we know so little about her, we each project a character onto her that we find interesting. He concluded she was mirroring our own characters and values.

In February 2013, Foster interviewed the Hollywood Actress Thandie Newton and she revealed the abuse she suffered on the casting couch as a teenager,^[47] a story that was picked up by other media.^[48][49][50] Another notable interview Foster conducted was with the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral the day before Margaret Thatcher's funeral.^[51] David Ison spoke of the hurt and anger left by the former Prime Minister which was picked up on the front page of The Times^[52] and in other news outlets ^{[53][54][55] [56][57][58][59]}

In 2013, Foster took over from Richard Quest as the host of CNN's Marketplace Europe; a weekly business show involving an interview with a leading chief executive from the continent.

Foster regularly hosts corporate events e.g. The Astana Economic Forum,^[60] the ATAG Aviation & Environment Summit^[61] and the UNWTO's Global Tourism Forum.^[62]

Personal life

Foster lives in Berkshire with his wife and three young children. He is half Swedish.

References

External links

• Max Foster CNN.com