Clarissa Ward Biography
Clarissa Ward is CNN’s highly acclaimed Chief International Correspondent, based in London. She has been honored with the National Press Club’s prestigious Fourth Estate Award and is the author of *On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist*. Ward is also the original host of the award-winning CNN Audio podcast, *Tug of War*. She joined CNN in 2015, transitioning from CBS News, where she spent four years as a foreign correspondent and made regular contributions to *60 Minutes*.
Clarissa Ward Age
Ward is 44 years old as of 2024. She was born on January 31, 1980, in London, United Kingdom.
Clarissa Ward Height
She is 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) tall.
Clarissa Ward Nationality
She is American.
Clarissa Ward Education
Ward graduated with distinction from Yale University in 2002, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. In recognition of her achievements, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Middlebury College in Vermont in 2013. Before her time at Yale, Ward attended the prestigious Godstowe and Wycombe Abbey boarding schools in England. Her diverse and distinguished education has been instrumental in shaping her successful career as a journalist and foreign correspondent.
Clarissa Ward Parents
Clarissa’s parents are Rodney Ward, a British, and Donna Ward, an American. She was born in London and grew up in London and New York City.
Clarissa Ward Husband
Clarissa is married to Philipp von Bernstorff, a German-born fund manager. The couple tied the knot in November 2016 at London’s Chelsea Old Town Hall, after meeting at a dinner party in Moscow in 2007. They have three sons: Ezra, 6, affectionately known as Ezzie; Caspar, 4; and Inigo Alexander Rumi Grainger Graf von Bernstorff-Wotersen, who will go by Iggy. Their youngest, Iggy, was born on May 23, 2023, at 8:52 a.m. U.K. time, weighing 8 lbs. Ezzie, who has a rare neurodevelopmental disorder known as ARID1B-related disorder (often associated with Coffin-Siris Syndrome), is non-verbal, wears nappies, and has an autism diagnosis. He will require lifelong support.
Clarissa Ward CNN
Ward is CNN’s multi-award-winning Chief International Correspondent based in London. Over the past two decades, she has reported from the front lines of conflicts worldwide, including Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen, Ukraine, and Georgia during the 2008 Russian incursion. Ward’s exceptional work has earned her the National Press Club’s prestigious Fourth Estate Award. She is also the author of *On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist* (Penguin Press), a memoir detailing her career as a conflict reporter and her close-up documentation of global upheaval. Additionally, Ward is the original host of CNN Audio’s award-winning limited series podcast, *Tug of War*.
In December 2023, Ward made history as the first Western journalist to gain independent access to Gaza during a trip facilitated by the United Arab Emirates. During her visit, she and her team reported from a UAE-run field hospital in southern Gaza, documenting the treatment of victims wounded in Israeli strikes.
Ward was on the ground in Ukraine as Russia began its invasion in February 2022, spending over five months covering the war. Her extensive coverage, including an hour-long primetime special titled *The Will to Win: Ukraine at War*, and her live reporting from Kyiv during President Joe Biden’s surprise visit, earned her two 2023 News & Documentary Emmy Awards for Outstanding Continuing News Coverage: Short Form and Outstanding Live Breaking News Coverage. Her work also contributed to CNN’s receipt of a duPont-Columbia Award, a Royal Television Society Award, and the David Kaplan Award from the Overseas Press Club of America.
Ward, senior field producer Brent Swails, and photojournalists William Bonnett and Scott McWhinnie received a George Polk Award for Foreign Television Reporting for their coverage of Afghanistan’s fall.
In Myanmar, Ward and her team were the first foreign journalists allowed entry after the February 2021 military coup, where they reported on the violent crackdown and confronted Myanmar’s military junta.
Ward’s reporting on the 2021 military coup in Myanmar and her investigation into Russian trolls in West Africa also garnered significant recognition. Her investigation into the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, conducted in collaboration with Bellingcat, led to two 2021 Emmy Awards and was featured in the Oscar and BAFTA award-winning CNN Films documentary, *NAVALNY*.
She also covered Joe Biden’s first overseas trip as president, including his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the G7 summit in England, where she interviewed former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
In 2018, Ward extensively reported on the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, obtaining exclusive footage of a Saudi operative posing as Khashoggi. This report was recognized with a Golden Nymph from the Monte Carlo Television Festival, and CNN’s coverage of Khashoggi’s murder won a prestigious 2020 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award.
Ward’s investigation into the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, *Shadow Over Europe*, earned a 2019 Edward R. Murrow Award.
Her extensive list of accolades includes 10 Emmy Awards, two George Foster Peabody Awards, two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Awards, and two Edward R. Murrow Awards, among others. She has also received the Ted Sorensen Award from Network 20/20 and the Excellence in International Reporting Award from the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).
In early 2016, Ward undertook an undercover mission to rebel-held areas in Syria, where she reported on the dire conditions under Russian and regime bombardment. Her series *Undercover in Syria* has been honored with a Peabody Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award for News Series, and the David Kaplan Award from the Overseas Press Club.
Clarissa Ward CBS News
Ward joined CNN in 2015 from CBS News, where she served as a foreign correspondent for four years and contributed regularly to ’60 Minutes.’ While at CBS Ward interviewed world leaders like U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012 and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in 2013, challenging them both on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s brutal crackdown inside Syria.
Before joining CBS Ward spent two years in Moscow and two years in Beijing for ABC News. She covered the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the 2008 global food crisis, where her coverage received an Emmy Award for Business and Financial Reporting.
Before ABC News, Ward was based in the Middle East for Fox News Channel, covering the execution of Saddam Hussein and other key stories in the region in addition to interviewing notable figures like General David Petraeus and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.
Ward’s career in journalism started in 2002 as an intern at CNN’s Moscow bureau. She has since been based in Baghdad, Beijing, Beirut, Moscow, New York and London.
Ward speaks fluent French and Italian, conversational Russian, Arabic and Spanish, and basic Mandarin.
Clarissa Ward Salary
Ward’s average annual salary as CNN’s Chief International Correspondent is approximately $99,675.
Clarissa Ward Net Worth
Ward’s net worth is estimated to be around $3 million. This figure reflects her successful career as a journalist and foreign correspondent, along with her various professional endeavors.
