Criado Perez wins FT and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award

Caroline Criado Perez has triumphed to win the Financial Times and McKinsey & Company Business Book of the Year Award 2019 with her gender data gap book, Invisible Women (Chatto & Windus). 

The £30,000 award recognises the book that provides the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues. It was presented to Criado Perez at a ceremony at the Park Hyatt Hotel in New York, by Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times and chair of the panel of judges, and Kevin Sneader, global managing partner of McKinsey & Company last night. 

Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men explores how designers and developers have persistently excluded or played down women in the data they use. Criado Perez saw off strong competition from a shortlist of titles with a focus on subjects ranging from the triumph of the quant revolution in financial markets to the dangers of the data-driven economy, gender inequality, and the unbridled influence that can arise from a privately held company, to win the £30,000 prize. Each of the five runners-up received a cheque for £10,000.
 
Barber said: "Invisible Women is a stunning book that tells people about sexism that is hidden in plain sight. The data that Criado Perez marshals are overwhelming and her call for action is compelling.”
 
“Unassailable facts, backed by powerful stories, are what moves minds,“ said Sneader. “This year’s winner brilliantly uses that combination to cast a bright light on one of the most important issues of our time.”
 
The Financial Times and McKinsey & Company also announced Jonathan Hillman as the winner of the 2019 Bracken Bower Prize. The prize is designed to encourage young authors to tackle emerging business themes. We hope to unearth new talent and encourage writers to research ideas that could fill future business books of the year.
 
Hillman was awarded £15,000 for his book proposal, The Sinolarity, which provides a map for navigating China's rise as a network power as it wires the world, connecting everything between the ocean floors and outer-space.