Speakers Bureau

Ben is the former media columnist of the New York Times. He was previously the founding editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News. Ben has covered American politics, media, and technology for more than a decade at Politico and the New York Daily News, among other outlets, and launched a number of political blogs. He is the author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral (Penguin Harper Collins), which the New York Times described as “engrossing and suspenseful... moral seriousness is what lifts Traffic above other accounts of adventures in start-up land.”

Executive Editor

Gina Chua was previously Executive Editor at Reuters. Gina was also the editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post and The Asian Wall Street Journal, a deputy managing editor at The Wall Street Journal in New York; a reporter in Singapore, Manila and Hanoi; and a television and radio journalist in Singapore. She is the co-founder of the Sigma Data Journalism Awards and the inaugural recipient of the Online News Association’s Impact Award for her work in digital journalism and dedication to innovation. A native of Singapore, she graduated with a bachelor’s in mathematics from the University of Chicago and a master’s in journalism from Columbia University. Gina transitioned in late 2020, making her one of the most senior transgender journalists in the industry.

Business & Finance Editor

Liz publishes Semafor’s twice-weekly business and finance newsletter and has broken some of the most consequential stories of the last year, including Microsoft’s investment in ChatGPT, Elon Musk’s fundraising for Twitter, and layoffs at Goldman Sachs. In 2023, she released her first book, Crash Landing: The Inside Story of How the World’s Biggest Companies Survived an Economy on the Brink, a kaleidoscopic account of the financial carnage of the pandemic, revealing the fear, grit and gambles that drove the economy’s winners and losers, which Kirkus called “a well-informed perspective on a devastating crisis.” A former star reporter at the Wall Street Journal, Hoffman is an on-air contributor at CNBC.

Technology Editor

Reed helms Semafor’s tech newsletter, which covers the high-stakes global struggle between competing visions of the industry — open or closed, centralized or decentralized — and the ideas, people, and power at the center of it. Reed has quickly established Semafor as a leading source of breaking A.I. news, including exclusive stories on Microsoft’s $10 billion investment in OpenAI, Elon Musk’s failed attempt to take over the nonprofit from Sam Altman, Stability AI’s revenue problems, Google’s new AI nonprofit and more. He helped launch The Wall Street Journal’s sports page and is the co-author of “Wheelmen,” the 2014 account of the Lance Armstrong doping scandal, which he exposed in the Wall Street Journal.

Senior Editor

Gina has covered war, high finance, and most recently the U.S. economy, as a columnist at Reuters Breakingviews. Prior, she served as U.S. Enforcement Correspondent at the Financial Times. She spent seven years at the Wall Street Journal in New York, Baghdad and Detroit, covering M&A, the Iraq war, and the auto industry. She’s the author of a 2010 book on the aftermath of the genocide in Cambodia.

Africa Editor

Yinka is a former editor at Rest of World; Quartz Africa, which he launched in 2015; and Billboard. In 2018, he was named one of the 100 Most Influential Africans by New African magazine. He previously wrote for Reuters, The Guardian, and The FT, among others, and has reported from more than 20 countries across Europe, Africa and the Americas. He will be overseeing the Semafor Africa newsletter, which will track the most important stories and analysis from the continent and digs into everything from political upheaval and China’s growing influence to a cultural renaissance and innovative startups.

Senior Editor

Prashant leads Semafor’s Flagship, Net Zero, and Breaking News teams. Prashant has had one of journalism’s widest-ranging careers: Raised in Hong Kong and educated in London, he’s been the Iraq Bureau Chief for AFP, the Deputy Europe Business Editor for the New York Times, and the International Editor of The Atlantic. He edits Flagship — Semafor’s global publication — as well as Net Zero, which covers the energy transition, and manages Breaking News from London, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

Washington Bureau Chief

Benjy leads Semafor’s political coverage with the Principals and Americana teams. Benjy is a veteran in the beltway and on the campaign trail, having spent over nine years at NBC News where he covered the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns as well as major legislative battles in Congress, from immigration reform to the Inflation Reduction Act. He later served as Policy Editor, working under Meet The Press moderator Chuck Todd to shape on-air and online coverage. He previously covered national politics for The Daily Beast and Talking Points Memo. Benjy edits Principals – Semafor’s daily politics newsletter – as well as Dave Weigel’s twice-weekly national politics newsletter, Americana.

Politics Reporter

Kadia Goba is a political reporter and contributor to Principals — Semafor’s daily politics newsletter — covering the most consequential policies and policymakers of our time. Kadia is an exceptionally well-sourced reporter in Congress, where she consistently breaks news about people in power. Kadia’s stories give readers unique insights into the decisions being made - about politics, policy, and the people behind those decisions. Her work includes uncovering the investigation into Sen. Bob Menendez a year before the Justice Department publicly announced multiple indictments against the senator. She previously reported at Buzzfeed News and Axios. As a fellow for the Pulitzer Center, Kadia reported on Sierra Leone’s environmental challenges.

Managing Editor, Semafor Africa

Alexis co-authors Semafor’s thrice-weekly newsletter about Africa, which contains scoops, news and analysis about the continent. He joined from the Financial Times where he shaped the newspaper’s pandemic coverage as its health and science editor. He also oversaw storytelling innovation as its digital editor. Prior to the FT, Alexis was the Reuters bureau chief in Nigeria. Based in Lagos for six years, he led a multimedia team focused on business and politics in Africa’s biggest economy. Alexis previously worked as a digital reporter, TV producer, and radio presenter during a decade at the BBC. His career began in Britain’s newspaper industry with stints at The Guardian and London’s Evening Standard.

Media Editor

Max is a journalist with Semafor, where he writes about the evolving media landscape, and co-authors the Semafor media newsletter. He previously wrote West Wing Playbook, Politico’s newsletter about the daily drama, politics, and personnel in the Biden administration. He has also written about media and politics for the Daily Beast and Business Insider, and produced the first season of the Working podcast for Slate.