Ron Lieber (born 1971) is an American journalist for The New York Times, where he writes the "Your Money" column. He is the recipient of three Gerald Loeb awards for his writing in the column. He previously wrote the "Green Thumb" column for the Wall Street Journal.
Early life and education
Lieber grew up in
Chicago, Illinois.[1] He attended the full 14-years of grade school at
Francis W. Parker School, a private school in Chicago, becoming a scholarship student after his parents divorced.[1]
Expecting to continue living in the Chicago area after college, Lieber decided to choose a school outside the
Midwest, attending
Amherst College on scholarships and financial aid.[2][1][3] He was inspired to try writing for the Student, the school alumni magazine, after reading the work of Chris Miller in the publication.[2] The summer after his junior year, he
interned with the Daily Hampshire Gazette for three months.[2] He graduated in 1993.[1]
Career
Lieber began his career in 1993 as a reporter for Lawyers Weekly USA in
Boston, a legal newspaper for small law firms.[4][3] His boss inspired him to want to work for The Wall Street Journal by bringing him clippings of
Edward Felsenthal's articles .[4] He moved on to work as a staff reporter for the Fast Company and Fortune.[2]
In 2002, Lieber joined The Wall Street Journal.[4] He was hired by Felsenthal as a founding member of the Personal Journal team.[4] He wrote the "Green Thumb" managing-your-money column until he left in 2007.[4]
Lieber helped start FiLife in 2007 as the managing editor.[5] FiLife, a joint venture of
Dow Jones and
IAC, was a personal finance website aimed at younger readers.[5] Lieber said the name was "a semi-mashup of Financial Life and High Life."[5]
Lieber left FiLife in 2008 to join The New York Times as a financial columnist.[1] He writes the "Your Money" column, which earned him three Gerald Loeb awards.[1][6][7][8]
Personal life
Lieber is married to
Jodi Kantor, a
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The New York Times.[9] They live in Brooklyn with their two daughters.[10]
Awards
2011
Gerald Loeb Award for Personal Finance business journalism for "Student Debt"[6]
2018 Gerald Loeb Award for Personal Finance business journalism for "The Equifax Breach"[7]
2019 Gerald Loeb award for Personal Service business journalism for "The Daunting Road to Loan Forgiveness"[8]
Selected bibliography
Taking Time Off, co-written with Colin Hall, 1996,
Noonday Press[11]