Recommendations for Rajiv Pant

What 95 Colleagues Say

Over 23 years, I’ve received recommendations from colleagues across The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast, Tribune Publishing, Knight Ridder, and several startups. Here’s what they consistently say.

The Patterns

When you read 95 recommendations, themes emerge. These aren’t cherry-picked phrases — they’re patterns that appear independently, across different companies and decades.

“Magnet for Talent”

Multiple CEOs, independently, used this exact phrase:

“At The New York Times, he was a real magnet for talent and built a very strong team."
— Mark Thompson, CEO, The New York Times Company

“He was a magnet for talent. He understood exactly how to fit technology properly in the center of our larger effort."
— Matthew Murray, Editor in Chief, The Wall Street Journal

Transformation

Several describe turning around broken situations:

“When Rajiv arrived at The Wall Street Journal, our technology was in a mess in every way—in the personnel, in how it prioritized and focused and in how it interacted with news and the rest of the company. Rajiv transformed their entire department within weeks."
— Matthew Murray, Editor in Chief, The Wall Street Journal

“He came into the Wall Street Journal newsroom at a critical moment and was transformative."
— William Lewis, CEO, Dow Jones & Publisher, The Wall Street Journal

Bridging Worlds

Praised for connecting technical and creative/editorial teams:

“He also showed an exceptional ability to work closely and empathetically with our own journalistic and design creative elite."
— Mark Thompson, CEO, The New York Times Company

“He understood how engineers and designers fit in alongside crusty reporters and graphics artists. He made the WSJ an exciting place to work for his team, probably for the first time ever for many of them."
— Matthew Murray, Editor in Chief, The Wall Street Journal

Trust & Character

“Rajiv has a remarkable talent for fostering high-trust relationships, which stems from the core of generosity and empathy that is instantly apparent in talking with him."
— Bryan McCann, CTO & Co-founder, You.com

“Rajiv is one of the most trustworthy individuals that I’ve met in my professional career."
— Tony Landa, Associate Director of Technology, The New York Times

Featured Recommendations

From CEOs & Publishers

Mark Thompson — President & CEO, The New York Times Company

Rajiv is a very strong digital executive with rock solid credentials in both engineering and product, but with great creative flair. At The New York Times, he was a real magnet for talent and built a very strong team. He also showed an exceptional ability to work closely and empathetically with our own journalistic and design creative elite.

Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr. — Chairman & Publisher, The New York Times

Dear Rajiv:

I am writing to extend to you my congratulations on your position at Some Spider and to thank you for the excellent job you did at The New York Times over your four years with us.

Your insight and expertise were enormously valuable as we built the technology needed to launch and grow our digital business. And, your eye for talent helped us to fill our ranks with top developers and technologists. The spirit of collaboration and enthusiasm you brought to your work will surely live on.

I thank you again and wish you continued success.

William Lewis — CEO, Dow Jones & Publisher, The Wall Street Journal

Rajiv is an inspirational digital leader, who combines technical expertise with strategic direction, and a deeply authentic and ethical approach to leadership. He came into the Wall Street Journal newsroom at a critical moment and was transformative. I hope to work again with him one day.

Bob Sauerberg — President & CEO, Condé Nast

Rajiv is a visionary and a great tech leader. He has all the skills necessary to envision, direct, and execute great products. Most importantly, he is a team player and a great communicator. The full package!

From Editors & Newsroom Leaders

Matthew Murray — Editor in Chief, The Wall Street Journal

When Rajiv Pant arrived at The Wall Street Journal, our technology was in a mess in every way—in the personnel, in how it prioritized and focused and in how it interacted with news and the rest of the company.

Rajiv transformed their entire department within weeks. He methodically and fairly rearranged and upgraded our talent, making his expectations clear, giving everyone the chance to contribute, but not hesitating to make changes as needed. He was a magnet for talent.

He understood exactly how to fit technology properly in the center of our larger effort, how to connect with news and other functions and how to focus on specific, achievable and remarkable product improvements.

His managerial acumen is very high, and he was able to quickly establish procedures and protocols from chaos that gave us clear goals, measurable progress and much deeper satisfaction for our users. He understands engineering talent and psychology and what motivates people.

It is not too much to say that it was not until his time here that we truly became a technologically adept newsroom and company. When he left us, he left an organization that was of a much higher caliber and competency than we’d ever had. He was a builder.

In his relatively short time here he was a pivotal figure for us. We miss him.

From Technology Leaders

Bryan McCann — CTO & Co-founder, You.com (2024)

Rajiv was my mentor and advisor from the very start of my first-time founder journey as the CTO of You.com. He provided invaluable perspectives as my role as CTO changed as quickly as the company grew.

In the first weeks and months, he advised me on how to structure the initial team and build a product from scratch with a small number of highly effective engineers. Many of his initial technical recommendations that I adopted remain part of our architecture.

As the team grew and our products became more developed, Rajiv continually proved adept in assessing our unique strengths as a team operating within an increasingly competitive landscape. His input guided us in small product decisions and large strategic ones.

In particular, Rajiv helped me build conviction in exploring B2B API offerings, which a year later became the cornerstone upon which the company raised capital, doubled the size of the team, and began to accelerate revenue growth at a blistering pace.

Rajiv has a remarkable talent for fostering high-trust relationships, which stems from the core of generosity and empathy that is instantly apparent in talking with him. From the day we incorporated You.com to this day, I have trusted him with everything big and small in work and in life, and he has always exceeded my expectations.

Denise Warren — Executive Vice President, The New York Times Later: President of Digital & CEO of East Coast Businesses, Tribune Publishing

It is with strong conviction that I recommend Rajiv Pant. During our work together over four years at the New York Times, his exemplary leadership skills directly contributed to the success of dozens of major initiatives.

Rajiv and the teams he built played critical roles in the acclaimed NYTimes mobile apps, the industry leading digital subscriptions implementation and numerous innovative data-driven journalism projects.

Not only is he an accomplished product development leader, he is a pleasure to work with on a personal level. He is consistently proven himself to be reliable, collaborative and open minded.

His approachable attitude and kindness towards coworkers made him loved by the teams reporting to him as well as his stakeholders. I know many colleagues who have followed him from job to job as he brings out the best in those working with him.

By The Numbers

All Recommendations

Browse the complete collection: All 95 recommendations →