Grand Ambition (Knecht) - Author Bio

Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Morristown, New Jersey, USA
• Education—B.A., Colgate University; M.B.A., Harvard
   University; Reuters Fellowship, Oxford University
• Awards—Human Rights Press Award; University of
   Misouri Journalism School Award
• Currently—lives in New York City, New York


A former senior writer and foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, G. Bruce Knecht is the author of three works of nonfiction—The Proving Ground: The Inside Story of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race (2001); Hooked: Pirates, Poaching and the Perfect Fish (2006), and Grand Ambition: An Extraordinary Yacht, the People Who Built It, and the Millionaire Who Can't Really Afford It (2013).

After joining the Journal in 1993, he wrote about the banking industry and pursued investigative projects until 1995 when he began covering publishing—books, magazines, newspapers, and the press. In 1998, the Journal nominated his articles, about how advertisers and retailers secretly influenced the editorial content of major magazines, for two Pulitzer Prizes. The same stories won an award from the University of Missouri Journalism School.

In 1998, Bruce moved to Hong Kong to become the Journal’s Asia Correspondent. His article about children of American servicemen who were still living in Vietnam won a Human Rights Press Award.

He was a London-based free-lance writer from 1991 to 1994, focusing on business and economic topics, particularly those involving the collapse of the Soviet Union. His articles have appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, tNew York Times Magazine, Barron’s, Conde Nast Traveler, SAIL, Smithsonian, The Independent (UK), National Review, and Men’s Journal.

Born in Morristown, New Jersey, Bruce received a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University and has served on the board of directors of its alumni corporation. He earned an M.B.A. from Harvard University and was a Reuters Fellow at Oxford University.

An avid sailor, Bruce raced across the Atlantic Ocean in 2005 aboard Mari-Cha IV, which broke the 100-year-old transatlantic race record. He is a member of Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club and the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. (Adapted from the author's website.)