William Kay (journalist)


William Kay is a British financial and business journalist.

Family and education

William Kay grew up in central London where he attended St Marylebone School and Westminster City School. In 1965 he was awarded an Open Styring Scholarship to read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at The Queen's College, Oxford. In 1968 he received a BA and subsequently a MA. He attended UCLA's Professional Screenwriting course in 2014-15, and its Advanced Screenwriting course in 2017.
In 2006 Kay accepted an invitation to emigrate to the United States as "an alien of extraordinary ability". He became a US citizen in 2011, whilst retaining his British nationality. He lived in Pasadena, California, where, until 2013, he continued to write a weekly financial advice column for The Sunday Times of London, and now writes obituaries of British and American business figures for The Times of London. He lives with Lynne Bateson, also a journalist, and has two adult sons, Andrew and Ben, and two grandchildren, Jackson and Indiana.

Career

Kay was on the staffs of the London Evening Standard and the now-defunct London Evening News in the early years of his career, and has been freelancing, writing books and working for UK national newspapers since then.
The British edition of Who's Who records that William Kay has been the City Editor, Financial Editor, Money Editor or Personal Finance Editor of five British newspapers: The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday and Mail on Sunday. Kay has also worked on the Daily Telegraph and the short-lived NOW! news magazine.
In 2009 Kay published his first novel, Pasadena Parade, a murder mystery set in Pasadena, California. He has subsequently written two screenplays based on that book, and another half-dozen screenplays since then.

Awards