The Financial Times launched a free weekly newsletter on Substack, authored by the team behind its popular finance blog, FT Alphaville, on November 21, 2025. The move is a deliberate effort to reach a younger demographic of investors and finance enthusiasts, according to Sarah Ebner, FT’s director of editorial growth, and engagement.
FT Alphaville, established in 2006, has historically offered a more accessible and often critical perspective on financial markets than the Financial Times’ core reporting. The Substack newsletter, delivered on Friday lunchtimes in the UK, is not intended as a simple republication of FT articles. Instead, it provides original commentary on weekly market events, alongside content drawn from the Alphaville blog itself.
“The newsletter is for smart, open-minded readers who are curious about markets, economics, and the geeky mechanics of finance, even if they don’t work in those fields,” said Alphaville editor Robin Wigglesworth. The initiative aims to provide insights into complex financial topics for individuals without professional backgrounds.
The launch of the Substack newsletter complements the Financial Times’ existing offerings, including access to free articles, the Editor’s Digest newsletter, personalized event updates based on followed topics, and the Alphaville blog on FT.com. A group subscription to FT.com, available through institutions like Harvard University’s Harvard Business School, provides unlimited access to FT content on desktop and mobile devices, intended to facilitate informed decision-making and strategic business development.
The Financial Times has been exploring new avenues for content distribution. FT Alphaville has a history of experimentation, and the Substack platform is increasingly popular with independent writers and a younger audience, making it a strategic choice for expanding the FT’s reach.
