Richard Quest - Biography

Richard Austin Quest (born 9 March 1962) is an English journalist and a CNN International anchor and reporter based in London. He anchors Quest Means Business. In addition to anchoring the five-times-weekly business program, Quest hosts the monthly program Business Traveller. He formerly anchored the monthly show Quest and the daily show CNN Today which was geared towards morning audiences in Europe.

Early life

Quest is a native of Liverpool, UK, having been born and partly raised there. He was educated at the state comprehensive Roundhay School in Leeds, followed by Airedale and Wharfedale College and University of Leeds, where he studied law, taking his degree in 1983 (Law LLB Hons.), and was called to the Bar. He had already gained broadcast experience when he spent the 1983–84 academic year at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. As news director for campus radio station WRVU, he built the reporting staff from scratch.

Journalism career

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

Quest later worked for the BBC from the USA as part of their then fledgling BBC News 24 channel. He was their business correspondent reporting on, and discussing the world stock market in a regular segment entitled World Business Report usually aired between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. (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.

Personal life

On 18 April 2008, Quest was arrested at 3:40am in Central Park, New York City, and charged with loitering and criminal possession of a controlled substance: crystal methamphetamine. The police also found a rope around his neck, tied to his genitals, and a sex toy in his boot. Quest agreed to undergo 6 months of drug counseling, resulting to "adjournment in contemplation of dismissal" of the misdemeanor charges. He was released by the Manhattan Criminal Court with no bail after having been incarcerated.

Quest identifies himself as gay and is Jewish.

His twin sister Caroline is Managing Director of Innovation and Enterprise at Queen Mary, University of London.

External links

• CNN staff biography
• CNN Business Traveller
• CNN Quest
• NY Post details Quest arrest