Speaker details

Biography

Lauren Thomas is the lead reporter on M&A and shareholder activism for The Wall Street Journal in New York. She consistently breaks market-moving news about the biggest deals across all industries. Some of her scoops have included Exxon Mobil’s $60 billion deal for Pioneer Natural Resources, Capital One's $35 billion deal for Discover Financial, Google parent Alphabet's $32 billion deal for Wiz, Mars’s $30 billion deal for food maker Kellanova, and Sycamore's $10 billion take-private of Walgreens. She also frequently scoops the biggest proxy fights in corporate America, including recent battles at Starbucks, Disney and Southwest Airlines. Before joining the Journal in October 2022, Lauren covered the retail and consumer industries at CNBC. There, she broke news on companies ranging from Target to Macy’s to Peloton, and she regularly appeared on CNBC TV programming. A native of Spartanburg, S.C., Lauren graduated with high honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied business journalism and Spanish.