Mishal Husain, the Today programme presenter and one of the BBC’s highest-profile news journalists, is to leave the broadcaster for a new role at Bloomberg, she has confirmed.

Husain has presented the flagship morning radio show since 2013, where she has won praise for her calm but forensic interviewing style. In 25 years at the BBC, she has become one of the key faces of BBC news, having hosted several recent general election debates and held key roles at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth and King Charles’s coronation.

She is leaving to host “a brand new flagship multiplatform global interview series”, Bloomberg said, and will become editor-at-large of its Weekend Edition.

Husain said: “My time at the BBC has involved many memorable moments, going to places I would never otherwise have seen, witnessing history and being part of live, national conversation on Radio 4.

“I will always be grateful for the opportunities the BBC gave me, and wish the organisation and everyone who is part of it the very best.”

Owenna Griffiths, the Today programme’s editor, described her as “not only a formidable journalist and first-rate presenter” but also “an extremely generous and thoughtful colleague”.

“It has been my great privilege to work alongside her and, along with the Today team, I’ll miss her enormously but wish her all the very best in her new venture,” she said.

Husain’s departure for a commercial rival follows the exits in 2022 of Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall to LBC and the Newsagents podcast. It comes weeks after the BBC opted not to renew Gary Lineker’s Match of the Day contract amid a squeeze on the licence fee and star salaries.

Husain, 51, was born in Northampton to British Pakistani parents and lived in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia before returning to school in the UK. She joined the BBC from Bloomberg in 1998, originally presenting business news on BBC World News and the BBC News Channel.

She posted on X: “I have so much to thank the BBC for: I grew up in a part of the world with no objective media and the World Service was our friend. Then BBC World launched and I could never have imagined that one day I would work there, let alone present there.”

David Merritt, Bloomberg’s head of media editorial, said: “Mishal is one of the UK’s pre-eminent news broadcasters and journalists and she is recognised globally for her incisive but fair interview style. Mishal started her career in television at Bloomberg, and we are delighted to welcome her back for an exciting new global chapter.”

• Mishal Husain
• BBC
• Radio 4
• Radio industry
• Bloomberg
• Newspapers & magazines
• US press and publishing
• news