Richard Austin Quest is an English journalist and a Cable News Network International anchor and reporter, based in New York City, New New York
Education
He was educated at the state comprehensive Roundhay School in Leeds, followed by Airedale and Wharfedale College and the University of Leeds, where he studied law, taking his degree in 1983 (Law Bachelor of Laws Honours), and was called to the Bar.
Career
He anchors Quest Means Business. In addition to anchoring the five-times-weekly business programme, Quest hosts the monthly programme Cable News Network Business Traveller and Cable News Network Marketplace Europe. He formerly anchored the monthly show Quest and the daily show Cable News Network Today which was geared towards morning audiences in Europe.
Quest is a native of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, having been born and partly brought up there.
He had already gained broadcasting experience when he spent the 1983-1984 academic year in the United States at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Quest then became a trainee journalist at the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1985, joining its financial section in 1987, and moving to New York City in 1989 to become the British Broadcasting Corporation"s North American business correspondent.
Quest later worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation from the United States as part of its then-fledgling British Broadcasting Corporation News 24 channel. He was the business correspondent reporting on, and discussing the world stock market in a regular segment entitled World Business Report usually aired between 2:00am and 3:00am (GMT), a programme that he presented alongside Paddy O"Connell.
He was also an occasional presenter on the British Broadcasting Corporation"s early-morning Business Breakfast programme.
Quest joined Cable News Network in 2001 for the launch of Business International. Since this time Quest has covered a variety of different events for Cable News Network, amongst others an analysis of the United States. elections as American Quest and the start of the circulation of euro banknotes and coins on 1 January 2002 and the last official commercial flight of Concorde. He has also headed up Cable News Network’s coverage of several events involving the British Royal Family.
In 2006, Quest turned down an opportunity to join First Rate (at Lloyd's) Jazeera English news channel, the English language version of al-Jazeera, "on the grounds that being gay and Jewish might not be suitable".
On 9 April 2015, Quest was announced as the host of the American Broadcasting Company game show 500 Questions. He was replaced by Dan Harris for the show"s second season.
Quest is also an Aviation Correspondent for Cable News Network, and extensively covered the story of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared on 8 March 2014. Quest later wrote the book, The Vanishing of Flight MH370: The True Story of the Hunt for the Missing Malaysian Plane, published by Penguin Random House on 8 March 2016.
In 2008, Quest was arrested at 3:40am in New York City"s Central Park.
Quest admitted being in possession of crystal methamphetamine, a controlled substance. A judge ordered him to undergo six months of drug counseling. On 26 June 2014, Quest described his past experience as a closeted gay man on his Cable News Network television programme Quest Means Business.