Sir Mark Thompson is Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide where he oversees all aspects of the business in the U.S. and around the world. He also serves as the editor-in-chief of CNN.

Sir Mark stepped down as President and CEO of The New York Times Company in the summer of 2020 after an eight-year tenure during which he led the transformation of the 170-year-old news brand into a digital powerhouse.

Sir Mark’s appointment at The New York Times Company followed an eight-year term as Director General (Editor-in-Chief and Chief Executive) of the BBC. As well as guiding the BBC’s coverage of the global financial crisis and the 2012 London Olympic Games, he is credited with major advances in the BBC’s digital offering and digital audience reach, including the successful launch of the BBC’s iPlayer, one of the world’s first streaming services from a major broadcaster (2007).

He joined the BBC from Channel 4 where he was Chief Executive from 2002 to 2004. Before Channel 4 he held a series of senior posts at the BBC including Editor of The Nine O’clock News and Panorama, Controller of BBC Two and Director of Television.

Richard Quest is CNN’s foremost international business correspondent and anchor of Quest Means Business, the definitive word on how we earn and spend our money.

Quest also serves as CNN Business editor-at-large, and is the network’s established airline and aviation correspondent, having interviewed all of the major airline executives.

Additionally, Quest is the host of CNN International’s signature monthly feature program Quest’s World of Wonder, an immersive travel series that finds him exploring a new destination each month and meeting fascinating people who reveal the heart of that city.

Quest’s dynamic and distinctive style has made him a unique figure in the field of business broadcasting. He has regularly reported from G20 meetings and attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland each year. Quest has covered every major stock market and financial crisis since Black Monday in 1987 and has reported from key financial centers globally including Wall Street, London, Sao Paolo, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Becky Anderson is one of CNN International’s highest profile anchors. She hosts Connect the World with Becky Anderson, which airs weekdays at 5:00pm UAE time. She is based at CNN’s Abu Dhabi bureau, where she also serves as Managing Editor.

In these roles Anderson has a distinctive regional perspective on some of today’s most important news stories, including the emerging politico-economic trends in the Gulf, the regional rivalries between Iran and Saudi Arabia and the deepening humanitarian crisis stemming from years of political instability in Syria and Iraq.

Anderson is a skilled interviewer, adept at close questioning and has interviewed many of the world’s leading politicians, decision-makers and thought-leaders. She has conducted one-on-one interviews with top world leaders including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir, Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abudllah bin Zayed, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed Al Thani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and leading humanitarian leaders such as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. She is equally at home with celebrities, quizzing the world’s A-listers, including Jennifer Lopez, Will.i.Am, Akon, Oprah Winfrey, Juliette Binoche, Andrew Lloyd-Weber, Beyoncé, George Clooney, Lady Gaga, Tom Hanks, Javier Bardem and Brad Pitt.

Since moving Connect the World to Abu Dhabi, Anderson has spent much of her time travelling across the Middle East at an extraordinary time of upheaval and change. Anderson and the team were the first team to broadcast from Riyadh after the ban on women driving were lifted. She has broadcast special shows from Tehran to Jerusalem, from Istanbul to Beirut, bringing a range of interviews, reports and packages to CNN International viewers around the globe.

Anderson has extensive business journalism experience including posts with the UK’s ITN, CNBC Europe and Bloomberg. She began her career in journalism as a print reporter with various business publications in Arizona, after gaining a Master of Mass Communication from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University in 1992 and in 2012 was inducted into their hall of fame. She gained her BA (Hons) in Economics at Sussex University in the UK.

Fred Pleitgen is a CNN Senior International Correspondent based in Berlin. He has been pivotal to CNN’s on-the-ground coverage of nearly every major story in Europe and the Middle East over the past two decades, including Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, multiple European elections, the Syrian civil war, and the Arab Spring. Pleitgen has extensively reported from inside Iran, and in 2025 was the first Western journalist to enter the country since the start of its conflict with Israel. He has also closely covered Russia and the rule of President Vladimir Putin.

Christiane Amanpour is CNN’s chief international anchor, host of the network’s flagship global affairs program Amanpour which airs weekdays on CNN International and on PBS in the United States. She is also host of the Saturday show The Amanpour Hour.

Amanpour’s fearless and uncompromising reporting from warzones and sites of natural disasters around the world over the past four decades has made her one of the most recognizable and iconic journalists in the world.

Throughout her time at CNN, she has secured countless exclusive and hard-to-get interviews with the global leaders, newsmakers and cultural icons shaping our world.

Amanpour has earned every major television journalism award including 16 News and Documentary Emmy Awards, four Peabody Awards, two George Polk Awards, three duPont-Columbia Awards and the IWMF’s Courage in Journalism Award. She has received nine honorary degrees, has been named a CBE and was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame. In 2023, she was honored with the Columbia Journalism Award, the highest award bestowed by Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, and with the President’s Award from the Overseas Press Club.

Eleni Giokos is a CNN anchor and correspondent, based in the UAE. A regular anchor across CNN’s news and business programming, she also presents the network’s Connecting Africa and Marketplace Middle East feature shows.

Born in Greece and raised in South Africa, she has more than 15 years’ experience working across TV, digital, radio and print media, and is one of CNN’s most versatile correspondents.

Giokos has interviewed countless heads of state over the years, including Rwandan President Paul Kagame, former South African President Jacob Zuma, and former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, to name just a few. Her list of business interviews includes the likes of International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde, and Virgin founder Richard Branson; as well as a ‘who’s who?’ of Africa’s most prominent business leaders.

Bijan Hosseini is a Senior Producer for CNN International Productions, working on feature shows, television segments, and digital videos spanning the globe. He is currently based in Doha, Qatar, as a member of the CNN Creators team – a multi-platform programming initiative which explores conversations capturing the zeitgeist, with a focus on AI, tech, and social trends. Hosseini also hosts CNN half-hour feature programs and engaging social video series, reaching audiences worldwide.

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation. The first woman and first African to hold the position.

She is an economist and international development expert with over 40 years of experience. Dr Okonjo-Iweala was Chair of the Board of Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, African Risk Capacity and Co-Chair of The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, in addition to serving as a Senior Advisor at Lazard and sitting on the Boards of Standard Chartered and Twitter, now X. She is Co-Chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Harvard Kennedy School Global Public Leader.

She served as Nigeria’s first female and longest serving Finance Minister (7 years) and was also the first female Foreign Minister. Her 25-year career at the World Bank culminated in her rising to the No.2 position of Managing Director, Operations.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala is the recipient of numerous honours and has authored several books. She holds a Bachelor’s in Economics from Harvard University and a PhD in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Caroline Faraj, CNN Vice President and CNN Arabic Editor-in-Chief, is an award-winning journalist with over 30 years’ experience. She was named winner of the Arab Woman of the year Awards 2022 as a leader in media, and in 2021 she won the Arab Woman Awards/ media category in the UAE. Based in Dubai, Faraj has overseen the content and management of CNN Arabic since she launched it in 2002, steering it during periods of major regional upheaval including the US-led invasion of Iraq, the Arab Spring, the rise of ISIS, and the Israel-Hamas war.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is the multiple Emmy®-award winning chief medical correspondent for CNN and host of the CNN podcast Chasing Life. Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon, plays an integral role in CNN’s reporting on health and medical news for all of CNN’s shows domestically and internationally, and regularly contributes to CNN Digital.

Since 2001, Gupta has covered some of the most important health stories in the United States and around the world. On March 9, 2020, Gupta penned an op-ed announcing the network would refer to the novel coronavirus outbreak as a “pandemic,” ahead of both the WHO and the CDC. Throughout 2020 into 2021, Gupta reaffirmed his role as a trusted guide to viewers worldwide on navigating between facts and fiction surrounding Covid-19 and the pandemic.

Over the last few years, Gupta has increasingly focused on long-form reporting. He is the host of the CNN Original Series “Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta,” which follows Gupta’s travels around the world in search of the secret to living longer, healthier and happier. Gupta also stars in the HBO Original Documentary “One Nation Under Stress,” which examines why life expectancy is declining in the United States. His enterprise reporting on medical marijuana has led to seven documentary films, “Weed,” which were awarded the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award.

In addition to his work for CNN, Gupta is an associate professor of neurosurgery at Emory University Hospital and associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. He serves as a diplomate of the American Board of Neurosurgery. And in 2019, Gupta was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in the medical field.

Kristie Lu Stout is an anchor and correspondent for CNN, based in Hong Kong.

She reports from the newsroom and in the field on major news stories including US-China relations, strategic tech development across Asia, and the aftermath of extreme climate events in the region. A multi-platform journalist since she joined the network in 2001, Kristie reports for CNN for an ever-widening array of platforms including linear TV, digital, streaming, and social media.

Kristie also hosts feature programs for CNN including Tech for Good, a series on the transformative power of technology, and Marketplace Asia, CNN’s monthly business program.

Based in China for over two decades, Kristie maintains a focus on how developments in China are dramatically changing the world for all of us. From anchoring CNN’s groundbreaking Eye on China series in 2004 to covering the US-China trade war, she has remained committed to reporting on the country. Kristie was also instrumental in launching On China, CNN’s first-ever regular series focused on the country – a first by any international TV news network.

Kristie also plays an active role in promoting the CNN Freedom Project, the network’s award-winning initiative focused on reporting stories of modern-day slavery, including student outreach in Hong Kong and across Asia as part of #MyFreedomDay. She is also proud to be part of CNN’s Call to Earth Day – a global initiative to engage students on the need for urgent action against climate change and pollution.

Over the years, her work has been nominated for multiple categories at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards. In 2025, she and her CNN-Asia colleagues received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Breaking News Coverage for reporting “South Korea Declares Martial Law.” In 2020, she was awarded Best Continuing News Reporting for TV and Video by the Association for International Broadcasting for team coverage of the 2019 Hong Kong Protests. In 2018, Kristie was awarded Best News or Current Affairs Presenter at the Asian Academy Creative Awards. Other accolades include multiple honors from the Asia Television Awards and Best News Coverage from the Royal Television Society for her reporting on Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

Will Ripley is an award-winning Senior International Correspondent for CNN, based in Taipei.

Ripley has led CNN’s recent coverage of Taiwan, securing an exclusive interview with President Tsai Ing-wen and reporting on the growing tensions between the island and Beijing.

He has also reported extensively on the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka, securing an exclusive interview with the acting President Wickremesinghe in 2022.

Before moving to Taipei, Ripley was based in Hong Kong. He reported on some of the biggest stories from the region in recent years, including Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, the Tokyo Olympics, the coronavirus pandemic, and the Hong Kong protests.

Before moving to Hong Kong, Ripley was CNN’s Tokyo-based correspondent. He reported on the devastating floods in Joso, the execution of two Japanese ISIS hostages, the deadly eruption of Mt. Ontake and the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster.

A journalist with over 21 years of experience, Ripley has travelled to North Korea 19 times since 2014 — more than any American TV correspondent. He has reported exclusively from Pyongyang after missile launches and nuclear tests and was the only American journalist in North Korea when U.S. prisoner Otto Warmbier was released just days before his death in 2017.

Prior to CNN, Ripley spent nearly 15 years working in newsrooms across the United States. He started as a student news reporter in Connecticut before heading to Missouri, Texas, and Colorado.

Throughout his career, Ripley has won numerous accolades including Best Single News Story at the Asian Academy Creative Awards in 2018 for his reporting on the destruction of the remote Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea. He also received the award for Best Documentary at the Asian Academy Creative Awards for his exclusive CNN documentary Secret State: Inside North Korea.

Ripley grew up in Manchester, Connecticut and graduated from the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Hanako Montgomery is an award-winning international correspondent for CNN, based in Tokyo.

Montgomery helms CNN’s Japan coverage, reporting on breaking news, politics, society and the economy. Her work spans major stories including the Noto Earthquake, Japan’s demographic crisis, regional tensions with China, U.S.-Japan relations, and political instability within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. She also secured an exclusive interview with former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Specializing in human rights reporting, she has led the network’s Asia-focused coverage on topics ranging from the political battle over adolescent pregnancies in the Philippines, to India’s air pollution crisis affecting children, to human trafficking and immigrant rights in Japan.

A digital-savvy journalist, Montgomery regularly contributes across CNN’s social platforms and text coverage.

Before joining CNN, she was an East Asia reporter for VICE, helping lead coverage on key regional stories across TV, digital video, text, Instagram, TikTok, and more.

Earlier in her career, Montgomery worked as a TV Japan reporter for NHK in New York, covering the first major outbreak of COVID-19 and reporting on culture and society across North America. She has also reported for Al Jazeera.

In 2023, Montgomery won a National News & Documentary Emmy Award and a Front Page Award for her reporting on legal child abuse manga in Japan. She and her team gained rare access to examine the issue, interviewing artists who created the works, offenders who consumed them and government officials responsible for regulation.

She graduated summa cum laude from Binghamton University and studied Japanese politics and literature for a year at Sophia University in Tokyo. Montgomery is fluent in English and Japanese and is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).