The News
Semafor today announced a major expansion of its live journalism business, anchored by the rapid growth of its flagship World Economy platform, the largest gathering of Fortune 500 CEOs in America. To lead this next phase, the company has appointed Lyndsay Polloway (US Chamber of Commerce), Nino Gruettke (Informa), Andy Browne (Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg) and Clay Chandler (Fortune Asia), to accelerate revenue growth and spearhead international expansion beginning in the Arabian Gulf before scaling to Africa, with Asia and Europe on tap. Building on the platform’s commercial and editorial success in 2025, the World Economy Summit will expand to a five-day program from April 13 to 17, 2026, and is expected to draw more than 400 global CEOs, more than double this year’s attendance.
On the expansion and new hires, CEO and Co-Founder, Justin B. Smith said: “Semafor is challenging the staid conference establishment by producing exceptional, editorially-driven alternatives to traditional, outdated event formats. These new hires represent the pinnacle of global live journalism talent and will lead us in redefining the event experience for global leaders.”
New Leadership Appointments:
Lyndsay Polloway – SVP, Head of U.S. Events
Lyndsay Polloway is the former SVP of Partnerships and Membership Operations at the US Chamber of Commerce, where she specialized in executing high-impact custom content and event campaigns. She was previously the Chamber’s Vice President of Events. Polloway’s experience also includes her time as Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Operations for AtlanticLIVE, The Atlantic’s live journalism division. She is a recipient of Folio magazine’s “Top Women in Media” and the Distinguished Young Alumni Award from Washington and Lee University, her alma mater.
Nino Gruettke – SVP, Head of International Events
Gruettke brings more than two decades of experience leading global events across Europe, the U.S., and Asia. He previously served as CEO Asia for Tarsus Group until its 2023 acquisition by Informa PLC, where he became Chief of Staff for Informa Markets. He also played a key role in launching Informa Festivals following its acquisition of Ascential, parent company of Money20/20 and Cannes Lions. Earlier in his career, he held senior roles at VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific. In this newly-created role, Gruettke will lead Semafor’s global events expansion, beginning with the Gulf region and scaling to Europe, Africa and Asia.
Andy Browne – Managing Editor, Live Journalism
Browne brings over three decades of experience in geopolitics, trade, and China, having previously run the editorial program at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum and served as China Editor at The Wall Street Journal where he was part of the 2007 Pulitzer-winning team for International Reporting. More recently, he was a partner at The Brunswick Group. In this new role, Browne will work closely with Gina Chon, Executive Editor of News and Live Journalism, to lead editorial strategy, program development, and booking for the World Economy platform as well as writing for Semafor on the forces shaping the global economy.
Clay Chandler – Managing Editor, Live Journalism (based in Hong Kong)
In his new role as Managing Editor, Live Journalism, Chandler will shape Semafor’s live journalism portfolio across Asia-Pacific and help launch a new Asia product. Based in Hong Kong, he joins from Fortune, where he served as Executive Editor for Asia, overseeing editorial operations and conference strategy while chairing flagship events. A veteran journalist, Chandler has also held senior roles at the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post and led publishing initiatives at McKinsey & Company.
Maggie Soergel – Head of Partnership Management
Soergel, who previously served as General Manager, Live Journalism will move into a new role as Head of Partnership Management, overseeing a new team focused on delivering successful integrated event and digital solutions for Semafor’s largest brand partners.
ABOUT SEMAFOR
Launched in October 2022 by veteran media executives Justin B. Smith and Ben Smith, Semafor is the world’s fastest growing independent news platform committed to delivering intelligent, independent, and transparent journalism to global leaders with a focus on the U.S, sub-Saharan Africa and the Gulf region. With a suite of eleven essential newsletters, including Flagship for daily insights, Principals for Washington insiders, Africa for analysis from the continent, Business and Media, Semafor is redefining the news experience by pioneering journalistic innovations from Semaform to Signals. The company brings its news to life with a rapidly-growing live journalism business, producing news-making events including The World Economy Summit and The Next Three Billion at UNGA. In 2024, Semafor was named to Fast Company’s Annual List of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for “rewriting the story on international reporting.”