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How do you measure a newspaper editor’s success? Is it paid readership? Eyeballs? Mentions in the Commons? Invitations to Davos? God forbid it should be something as banal as bottom-line

profitability. Whatever, by any measure (including profitability), Lionel Barber — who is now stepping down after 15 years as editor of the _Financial Times_ — is widely considered to be one

of the most successful in the business. Both might hate the comparison, but the only one to match him in the UK press firmament would be the _Mail_’s Paul Dacre, now pushed upstairs in

favour of Geordie Greig, OE. After all, Barber’s tenure has seen the _FT_’s “paid readership” (an interesting, if imprecise, phrase) top a million, two thirds of which is said to be digital

— behind a paywall that was introduced before he took over in 2002. UK print circulation (the old Pink’un) is just 170,000 — but that vastly understates the _FT_’s international reach. It is

the paper of choice for the global elite, with 70 per cent of its readership outside the UK. British Airways may have decided to drop it from its executive lounges, but the _FT_ is

ubiquitous wherever the great and good meet and greet. Barber is also generally (and genuinely) popular. He is urbane, cosmopolitan and super-smooth; hard to believe he was ever an

inky-fingered hack. (The _Columbia Journalism Review_ described him as “in a pinch, a decent stand-in for 007”.) But his staff clearly respect him, even if a few hanker for the old days

under Richard Lambert (his predecessor but one), when meat-and-potatoes corporate reporting didn’t have to take second-place to what’s new in Brussels or Basel or Washington DC. Moreover, he

managed to negotiate a very tricky transition, when Pearson (which had long been the _FT_’s benign proprietor) decided to cash out in favour of a punt on global education. Not only did he

sell the _FT_ to Japan’s Nikkei for an eye-watering £844 million, but he also managed to negotiate a pledge of full editorial independence, which (so far, at least) Tokyo seems to have

respected. He leaves as the paper’s longest-serving editor since the sainted Gordon Newton, and, at 64, he probably has at least one more Big Job in him. Is there a downside? Well, the

de-emphasis of corporate news (particularly UK news) has clearly made the _FT_ less relevant in some circles. As Barber himself put it early on, “the _FT_ is going to be the newspaper of

globalisation,” — and he succeeded. For him, the commitment to globalisation segued naturally into support for Europe and an almost visceral opposition to Brexit. There were (and are) a few

_FT_ journalists who are mildly sceptical of the EU, but Barber — who became a chevalier of the Legion d’honneur, in part for his services to the European project, is a true believer. I

remember, 20 years ago, EU officials at a conference in (of all places) Bratislava excoriating the _FT_ for its coverage of Brussels, and for what they saw as its pro-American “Anglo-Saxon”

hostility to Europe; not any more. Under Barber, it has drunk the euro-Kool-Aid. More important, perhaps, Barber himself seems to have sensed that the paper needs a bit of a refresh, no

surprise, given the length of his tenure. Hence the relaunch a few months ago around the theme of a kinder, gentler form of capitalism. Will it work? There are certainly some very bright

sparks on the editorial side; I really rate Janan Ghanesh (as a social commentator who is about six months ahead of the pack) and Anjana Ahuja (who makes basic science fun). Like many

readers, I miss Lucy Kellaway, but the real problem is an older generation of writers who — though knowledgeable — are more or less set in their ways. New editors at the _FT_ tend to wield

the axe early on, and I imagine that Barber’s hand-picked successor, Roula Khalaf, will be no exception. (Though there was a six-month search, she probably always had the job in the bag

since, as Barber’s deputy, she has long proved her management skills.) Presumably, that means (at least) that those whom she pipped for the top job will move on. There are also half a dozen

other senior writers (including Barber’s own brother) who may feel the need for a new challenge. Perhaps the most interesting question is what happens to the paper’s all-world economic guru,

Martin Wolf. He is that rare bird: someone whose name actually sells subscriptions. However, he has been around for a long time and he may find the new editor does not entirely share his

world-view. At the very least, I imagine someone will edit his copy a bit more vigorously. What of Khalaf herself? Well, first of all she’s a woman, though that may be less significant than

it seems given that, for a long time, Gillian Tett appeared to be the front-runner for Barber’s job. Second, her background is very different to that of Barber. While he is Dulwich College,

Oxford, vaguely Jewish, and rather pukka, she is from a prominent Lebanese Druze family (her father was Economics Minister at the outset of the Civil War), was educated in the US (at

Syracuse and Columbia) and earned her journalistic chops at _Forbes_. Like Barber, she is probably more interested in pleasing Larry Summers and Klaus Schwab than buttering up Mike Ashley,

but it will be interesting to see if she shares Barber’s enthusiasm for Europe. One thing that is pretty clear: the recent re-launch was as much her idea as his. She is married to a major

player in the impact investing business, and sustainability is going to be close to the _FT_’s heart under the new regime. As for that next/last Big Job for Barber? Well, if it hadn’t been

for Brexit, I would have said he was a shoo-in for the European Commission. As it is, we (and he) may have to wait a bit.