Gillian Tett
A financial anthropologist who foresaw the 2008 crash by studying the strange tribal rituals of Wall Street bankers.
Born 1967 (age 59)·British journalist·Birthday: July 10·Generation X
Biography
Gillian Tett approaches the opaque world of finance not just as a journalist, but as a cultural decoder. With a PhD in social anthropology from Cambridge, where she studied marriage rituals in Tajikistan, she brought an outsider's lens to the jargon-cloaked enclaves of global banking. At the Financial Times, she began dissecting the complex credit derivatives that few understood, warning of their systemic dangers years before the 2008 collapse. Her book 'Fool's Gold' became a definitive account of the crisis, praised for making the incomprehensible not just clear, but narratively compelling. Tett's influence grew, leading her to co-found the FT's 'Moral Money' newsletter on sustainable finance and later to assume the role of Provost at King's College, Cambridge, bridging the often distant worlds of high finance, academia, and public policy with relentless curiosity.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Gillian was born in 1967, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Gillian Was Born
The biggest hits of 1967
#1 Movie
The Jungle Book
Best Picture
In the Heat of the Night
#1 TV Show
The Andy Griffith Show
Gillian's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1967Born
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1972Started school
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1980Became a teenager
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1983Could drive
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1985Could vote
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1988Turned 21
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1997Turned 30
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 40
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 50
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 59 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Authored 'Fool's Gold,' a critically acclaimed narrative history of the financial instruments that caused the 2008 crisis.
- As US managing editor of the Financial Times, she built and led a team that expanded the paper's American coverage and influence.
- Co-founded the Financial Times' 'Moral Money' newsletter, focusing on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues in business.
- Appointed Provost of King's College, Cambridge, a senior leadership role at one of the university's most historic colleges.
Did You Know?
She is a trained anthropologist who conducted fieldwork in the former Soviet Union, specifically in Tajikistan.
She plays the viola and has performed with an orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
She initially applied to work at the Financial Times as a secretary but was hired as a reporter instead.
“The problem is that silos can become cages.”
