MICHAEL JENSEN

JENSEN--Michael. Mike Jensen, Chief Financial Correspondent of NBC News for over two decades, and a reporter before that for The New York Times, died January 14, 2022 after a short illness, age 87. The Emmy Award-winning journalist appeared regularly on NBC Nightly News and the Today Show, and was known for making complex financial news simple, That was him in life, too. Simplifying, not complicating. A Chicago native, Jensen grew up in Gloucester, MA. He was a 1956 Harvard graduate with a Masters' degree from Boston University, and was a three-year Naval officer. After working as a reporter and executive business editor of the Boston Herald, Jensen moved to New York in 1964 to become editor of the trade paper American Metal Market. In 1969, Jensen went to The New York Times, working as an investigative reporter and briefly the deputy business editor. During that time, Jensen wrote a book on New York investment banks, The Financiers. He moved to NBC in 1978 during a newspaper strike, intending to stay temporarily. But he took to it right away. TV Digest once put a Network News Dream Team on its cover and included Jensen as the financial correspondent. He interviewed Bill Clinton, Mick Jagger and Lech Walesa, was at the Berlin Wall right after it fell, and reported from China as American companies began moving operations there for cheap labor. He also played the guitar, piano and banjo, loved camping trips with his family, and led a yearly Christmas Carol sing- a-long at a retirement village near his home. In retirement, Jensen lived in Mystic CT, with Jane, his cherished wife of 61 years. His last public speaking appearances were officiating at the weddings of his two oldest grandchildren. Jensen is survived by his wife, his daughter Heidi (Chuck) and son Mike (Lisa) and grandchildren Audrey (Jack), Kate (Patrick), Elissa (Alec), Zack, and Sarah. Also, by sister Billie Hruby (Ken) of Gloucester. Jensen was predeceased (by one week) by his older brother Dick. Donations can be made to Gloucester High School Alumni Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 1226, Gloucester, MA, 01930.