Victoria Penelope Jane Ward (born 3 July 1969) is a British-born American author, investigative journalist, editor-at-large, and television commentator. She was a Senior Reporter at

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

and a former magazine and newspaper editor who has featured in ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list.

Early life and education

Vicky Ward was born Victoria Penelope Jane Ward on 3 July 1969 in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

, Essex. She is the daughter of Simon Charles Ward, a retired London financier, and Myrtle Ward (''née'' East), a graduate of the

University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

. She has two younger sisters, Antonia Ward and Lucinda Ward.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage: 107th Edition volume 1, page 1360 Ward attended

Benenden School Benenden School is an independent boarding school for girls in Kent, England, in Hemsted Park at Benenden, between Cranbrook and Tenterden. Benenden has a boarding population of over 550 girls aged 11 to 18, as well as a limited number of da ...

from 1983–1987 and later earned a BA and MA in English literature from Trinity Hall,

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

during 1988–1991.

Career

Prior to moving to the U.S. in 1997, Ward was a columnist and feature writer for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', a British newspaper. In New York City, she was the features and news features editor of the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' (1999–2001) and

Tina Brown Christina Hambley Brown, Lady Evans (born 21 November 1953), is an English journalist, magazine editor, columnist, talk-show host, and author of '' The Diana Chronicles'' (2007) a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, '' The Vanity Fair Diari ...

's executive editor at ''

Talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

'' (2000–2001). Ward worked as a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' (2001–2012) as well as a columnist for the London ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' (2007–2011). Her ''Vanity Fair'' articles covered a wide array of subject matter: politics, finance, art, and culture and society. Among other things, she wrote about

Hewlett Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

Bruce Wasserstein Bruce Jay Wasserstein (December 25, 1947 – October 14, 2009) was an American investment banker, businessman, and writer. He was a graduate of the McBurney School, University of Michigan, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School, and spe ...

, a failed coup in Africa,

Kate Middleton Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...

Valerie Plame Valerie Elise Plame (born August 13, 1963) is an American writer, spy novelist, and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. As the subject of the 2003 Plame affair, also known as the CIA leak scandal, Plame's identity as a CIA officer ...

, counter-terrorist czar Dick Clarke,

Brooke Astor Roberta Brooke Astor (née Russell; March 30, 1902 – August 13, 2007) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and writer who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, son of John Ja ...

, Veronica Hearst, the Guggenheim, the Getty, Phillips de Pury Luxembourg, St. Barths, Vivendi,

Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American sex offender and financier. Epstein, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, began his professional life by teaching at the Dalton School in Manhattan, des ...

, Washington interns, the Fairfield Greenwich hedge fund and

Bernie Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American fraudster and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDA ...

. From July 2017 to July 2019, Ward served as editor-at-large for ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' and ''Huffington Post Highline'', their long-form magazine. ''HuffPost'' exclusives written by Ward included interviews with Blackwater's

Erik Prince Erik Dean Prince (born June 6, 1969) is an American businessman, former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, and the founder of the private military company Blackwater. He served as Blackwater's CEO until 2009 and as its chairman until its sale to a group ...

, Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, and

Anthony Scaramucci Anthony Scaramucci ( ; born January 6, 1964) is an American financier who briefly served as the White House Communications Director, White House Director of Communications from July 21 to July 31, 2017. Scaramucci worked at Goldman Sachs's inv ...

on the White House and why he was fired. For ''The Huffington Post Highline'', Ward wrote articles about Vice President

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...

's Chief of Staff,

Nick Ayers James Nicholas Ayers (born August 16, 1982) is an American political strategist and consultant who served as Chief of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence between July 2017 and January 2019. He had previously served as national chairman for Pence' ...

and

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

and

Rebekah Mercer Rebekah Mercer is an American heiress and Republican political donor who is the director of the Mercer Family Foundation. She began overseeing day-to-day operations of political projects for the Mercer family when the Mercers became involved i ...

's influence in the 2016 election.

Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP. Rose also co-an ...

later interviewed her on this piece. In July 2019, Ward was named Senior Reporter at

. For CNN, her reporting included pieces on the rise of the Jeffrey Epstein mystique, the scrutiny of Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale's business ties, and a look at Donald Trump's ongoing fight to keep his tax returns private. Ward is also editor-at-large at ''Town & Country'' magazine, where she writes about culture. Her pieces have included an article on the late, seminal Russian art collector

Sergei Shchukin Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin (russian: Серге́й Ива́нович Щу́кин; 10 January 1936) was a Russian businessman who became an art collector, mainly of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. Early life and family Sergei I ...

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...

's first-ever sailboat design, and a $2 billion fraud in the modern art world including the Knoedler art trial. In 2016, Ward wrote investigative long-form articles for ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' including a piece on

Jared Kushner Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He served as a senior advisor to 45th U.S. president Donald Trump, his father-in-law. Since leaving the White House, Kushner founded Affinity Partners, a pri ...

and a profile of the Russian-born cyber-terrorism expert

Dmitri Alperovitch Dmitri Mikhailovich Alperovitch (born 1980) is a Soviet-born American think-tank founder, investor, philanthropist, podcast host and former computer security industry executive. He is the chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, a geopolitics th ...

. Ward has contributed to, among others, the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', the London ''Times'', ''Sunday Times'', ''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'', the UK ''

Spectator ''Spectator'' or ''The Spectator'' may refer to: *Spectator sport, a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its matches *Audience Publications Canada * ''The Hamilton Spectator'', a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, ...

'' magazine, ''British Vogue'', US ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'' and ''Porter''. She has also had on-air contracts with CNBC and Bloomberg TV. She appears regularly on MSNBC's ''Morning Joe''. Ward is the author of three books: the ''New York Times'' bestseller ''The Devil's Casino'' in 2010, ''The Liar's Ball'' in 2014, and the ''New York Times'' bestseller ''Kushner, Inc.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption.'' in 2019. Centering on the story of real estate developer

Harry Macklowe Harry B. Macklowe (born 1937) is an American real estate developer and investor based in New York City. Early life Macklowe was born to a Jewish family, the son of a garment executive from Westchester County, New York. He graduated from New Roc ...

, ''The Liar's Ball'' was reported to be in development as a feature film by J.C. Chandor and A24 Productions. Ward appeared in the 2017 documentary film ''Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World''. In 2019, Ward said her 2003 profile of Jeffrey Epstein in ''Vanity Fair'' had included on-the-record accounts of Annie and

Maria Farmer Maria K. Farmer (born 1969) is an American visual artist known for providing the first criminal complaint to law enforcement, to the New York City Police Department and to the FBI, in 1996 about the conduct of financier and convicted sex offender ...

(who filed the earliest known criminal complaints about Epstein), but that they were later stricken from Ward's article after Epstein pressured the magazine's editor

Graydon Carter Edward Graydon Carter, CM (born July 14, 1949) is a Canadian journalist who served as the editor of '' Vanity Fair'' from 1992 until 2017. He also co-founded, with Kurt Andersen and Tom Phillips, the satirical monthly magazine ''Spy'' in 1986. ...

. While researching Epstein, Ward was pregnant with twins and reported that she felt compelled to hire security protection for their

neonatal intensive care unit A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), also known as an intensive care nursery (ICN), is an intensive care unit (ICU) specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. Neonatal refers to the first 28 days of life. Neonatal care, as kn ...

after Epstein had threatened their wellbeing. In June 2020, she joined the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

As of summer 2020, she was at work on her fourth book. She is the host and producer of ''Chasing Ghislaine'', which was released July 15, 2021 as a
Audible Original podcast
(and hi
#5 on Audible's Weekly Bestsellers List
an
as docuseries premiering on discovery+ on November 22, 2021 and ID on December 3, 2021.
On November 29, 2021, she launched the Substack newsletter
Vicky Ward Investigates
.

Bibliography

* 2010 ''The Devil's Casino: Friendship, Betrayal and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers'',

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations * Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town *Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People * Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer * Wiley Mill ...

, * 2014 ''The Liar's Ball: The Extraordinary Saga of How one Building Broke the World's Toughest Tycoons'',

, * 2019 ''Kushner, Inc.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption. The Extraordinary Story of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump'',

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

, New York,

Personal life

Ward met Matthew Doull in the 1990s when both were working at ''The Daily Telegraph''. They married in July 1995 and have two children together, twins Orlando and Lorcán, born in early 2003. Ward and Doull later divorced. Ward has lived in New York City since 1997, and is a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

U.S. citizen as of 2017. A portrait of Ward, taken by photographer Jason Bell, was exhibited in the British National Portrait Gallery in 2011 as part of Bell's series "An Englishman in New York". The series, including the portrait of Ward, was also published as a book by the same title.

References

External links