Matthew Murray
Editor in Chief
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
To Whom It May Concern:
When Rajiv Pant arrived at The Wall Street Journal, our technology was in a mess in every way—in the personnel, in how it prioritized and focused and in how it interacted with news and the rest of the company.
Rajiv transformed their entire department within weeks. He methodically and fairly rearranged and upgraded our talent, making his expectations clear, giving everyone the chance to contribute, but not hesitating to make changes as needed. He was a magnet for talent. He understood exactly how to fit technology properly in the center of our larger effort, how to connect with news and other functions and how to focus on specific, achievable and remarkable product improvements.
He did more. His managerial acumen is very high, and he was able to quickly establish procedures and protocols from chaos that gave us clear goals, measurable progress and much deeper satisfaction for our users. He understands engineering talent and psychology and what motivates people. More than that, he understood how engineers and designers fit in alongside crusty reporters and graphics artists. He made the WSJ an exciting place to work for his team, probably for the first time ever for many of them.
He is a skillful navigator of his teams, peers, and bosses—quite difficult in a crowded newsroom—and quickly raised the game for all of us. It is not too much to say that it was not until his time here that we truly became a technologically adept newsroom and company. When he left us, he left an organization that was of a much higher caliber and competency than we’d ever had. He was a builder.
I found him also to be useful and thoughtful senior leader on a range of issues, from strategy in the broadest sense to important tasks like prioritization and time management. In his relatively short time here he was a pivotal figure for us. We miss him.
In the right role at the right time he showed himself to be a transformational leader and important figure for the Journal. he has my wholehearted recommendation. And I’d be happy to share any further insights if helpful.
Sincerely,
Matthew Murray
Editor in Chief
The Wall Street Journal
Here is the original signed recommendation on letterhead in PDF format:
Related: Here is a memo Matt previously wrote to the WSJ newsroom announcing my promotion.
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