Richard Quest

Richard Quest

Quest in 2014
Born 9 March 1962
Liverpool, Merseyside, England
Nationality British
Ethnicity Caucasian[1]
Education Airedale and Wharfedale College
University of Leeds
Vanderbilt University
Occupation Journalist
Notable credit(s) Business International
Quest Means Business

Richard Austin Quest (born 9 March 1962) is an English journalist and a CNN International anchor and reporter, based in New York City, New York.

He anchors Quest Means Business. In addition to anchoring the five-times-weekly business programme, Quest hosts the monthly programme CNN Business Traveller[2] and CNN Marketplace Europe. He formerly anchored the monthly show Quest and the daily show CNN Today which was geared towards morning audiences in Europe.

Early life and education

Quest is a native of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, having been born and partly brought up there.

He was educated at the state comprehensive Roundhay School in Leeds, followed by Airedale and Wharfedale College and the University of Leeds, where he studied law, taking his degree in 1983 (Law LLB Hons.), and was called to the Bar.[2] He had already gained broadcasting experience when he spent the 1983–84 academic year in the United States at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. As news director for campus radio station WRVU, he built the reporting staff from scratch.

Career

Quest and Lisa Neideffer of WRVU-FM broadcasting at Vanderbilt University, 1984
Quest interviews Stuckist artist Ella Guru at Spectrum London gallery, 2006

Quest then became a trainee journalist at the BBC in 1985, joining its financial section in 1987, and moving to New York City in 1989 to become the BBC's North American business correspondent.

Quest later worked for the BBC from the United States as part of its then-fledgling BBC News 24 channel. He was the business correspondent reporting on, and discussing the world stock market in a regular segment entitled World Business Report usually aired between 2:00am and 3:00am (GMT), a programme that he presented alongside Paddy O'Connell. He was also an occasional presenter on the BBC's early-morning Business Breakfast programme.

Quest joined CNN in 2001 for the launch of Business International. Since this time Quest has covered a variety of different events for CNN, amongst others an analysis of the U.S. elections as American Quest and the start of the circulation of euro banknotes and coins on 1 January 2002 and the last official commercial flight of Concorde. He has also headed up CNN’s coverage of several events involving the British Royal Family.

In 2006, Quest turned down an opportunity to join Al Jazeera English news channel, the English language version of al-Jazeera, "on the grounds that being gay and Jewish might not be suitable".[1]

On 9 April 2015, Quest was announced as the host of the American Broadcasting Company game show 500 Questions.

Personal life

In 2008, Quest was arrested at 3:40am in New York City's Central Park. Quest admitted being in possession of crystal methamphetamine, a controlled substance.[3] A judge ordered him to undergo six months of drug counseling.[4]

On 26 June 2014, Quest described his past experience as a closeted gay man on his CNN television programme Quest Means Business.[5]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Gibson, Owen; Rattansi, Afshin (12 November 2006). "Look East  After Long Delays and a Rumoured Editorial Split with Its Arabic Parent, English-Language News Channel al-Jazeera Will Go on Air This Week". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2014. But there were delays from the start. It was hard to recruit big-name presenters: Richard Quest of CNN said he turned down an offer on the grounds that being gay and Jewish might not be suitable.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Staff (n.d.). "Anchors & Reporters: Richard Quest". CNN. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  3. Hartocollis, Anemona (19 April 2008). "CNN Reporter Faces Drug Charge". City Room (blog of The New York Times). Retrieved 19 April 2008.
  4. Staff (19 April 2008). "CNN's Richard Quest Arrested for Drugs in New York". Reuters. 24 July 2014.
  5. Ariens, Chris (27 June 2014). "Richard Quest Comes Out: 'The Work I Do Here is Better Because I'm Honest About Who I Am'". mediabistro.com. Retrieved 24 July 2014.

External links