40 Under 40 2022: Julia Clyne, Dow Jones & Co

Julia Clyne

Vice president, head of media sales, Asia Pacific
The Wall Street Journal Barron’s Group
Hong Kong

In her free time, Julia Clyne loves to dance. Give her good dancing music and she can tango all night, and then bring the same energy and agility to her day job where she glides nimbly between the newsroom and the boardroom.

Behind Clyne’s drive, commitment and dedication is her belief that great ideas and quality journalism truly have the ability to change the world and thus, need to be supported.

Clyne has an astute sense of what will fly and what won’t. She brings with her the insights and experience to make important business decisions, while still allowing the editorial side to retain its integrity. 

She has been instrumental in the creation of new editorial products in advertising and sponsorship opportunities, and brought the flagship Wall Street Journal (WSJ) CEO Council portfolio of events back to Asia. Clyne’s team was able to generate twice the target of sponsorship revenue tied to the WSJ CEO Council Virtual Summit that took place in September 2022, and in so doing, cemented this event franchise in the region. 

She has worked alongside Dow Jones’s strategy and innovation teams over the past three years to identify new growth areas for the business in the APAC region to help grow products and commercial opportunities in Asia.

In the last fiscal year, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic for the publishing industry, Clyne managed to grow the business footprint by 27% and increased revenue generated by its in-house creative agency by 30% year-over-year. Her collaborative approach has driven synergies across the group’s newsroom, business, technology, and partnership teams to generate bespoke opportunities and sophisticated solutions for clients aimed at growth. The team managed to retain 73% of business from repeat clients even during Covid-impacted years.

Clyne continues to be a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion at Dow Jones, often bringing people and teams together across regions, functions and industries. She has led several Inclusive Resource Groups (IRGs) in Asia, including 'Parents@DJ' and 'Women@DJ'. 

Clyne also works hard to use whatever influence and resources she has to support the news media industry. This includes volunteering her time while at The New York Times and now at The Wall Street Journal to contribute to the Society of Publishers of Asia (SOPA) board where she currently serves as honorary secretary.