Ali Velshi Biography

Chief Business Correspondent
CNN

Connecting the news through finance, global issues, contemporary governance, education and big ideas, CNN’s Ali Velshi executes several roles across CNN as the network’s chief business correspondent and anchor of Your Money and World Business Today on CNN International.

In addition to his anchor responsibilities, Velshi frequently reports from the field on breaking news events, politics, and in-depth personal profiles that offer insights into global issues.

Velshi’s in-depth reporting for CNN’s “How The Wheels Came Off” was honored with a National Headliner Award for Business & Consumer Reporting in 2010. He anchored CNN’s breaking news coverage of the attempted terror attack on a flight into Detroit, delivering CNN’s worldwide newsgathering for which the network was nominated for a 2010 Emmy. He was also honored with a 2010 Alumni Achievement Award from his alma mater, Queen’s University.

Previously, Velshi was an anchor with CNNfn, where he hosted various interactive shows, including Your Money, Business Unusual, Insights, Street Sweep and The Money Gang. Before joining CNNfn in 2001, he hosted The Business News, Canada’s first and only prime-time business news hour, airing nightly on Report on Business Television.

Earlier in his career, Velshi worked as a business anchor for Cable Pulse 24 and sister station, CITY TV in Toronto, and as a reporter for CFTO-TV in Toronto, Canada’s most watched local television station.

In 1996, Velshi was awarded a fellowship to the U.S. Congress by the American Political Sciences Association, and worked with now-retired U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton, (D-Ind.)

Born in Kenya and raised in Toronto, Velshi graduated from Queens University in Canada with a degree in religion. He is a member of the Grand Challenges Advisor Committee for the National Academy of Engineering. Velshi is the co-author of “How To Speak Money,” which releases on November 8, 2011; and author of “Gimme My Money Back,” which released in January 2009.