Breakingviews, the financial commentary site, was today sold to Thomson Reuters for about £13 million, generating a seven figure fortune for its founder Hugo Dixon.

Founded ten years ago by Mr Dixon, the site will be incorporated into the Thomson Reuters feed for users of its teminals under the brand Reuters Breakingviews.

Thomson Reuters refused to disclose the purchase price, although it is understood to be around £13 million. A sale at that price would mean a windfall of £2.6 million for Mr Dixon.

Breakingviews existing subscription-based business model will be scrapped, although some articles will be available for free online on Reuters.com. Breakingviews will also continue to supply commentary for newspapers such as the New York Times.

"What we're buying is the people, the brand and the capability," said David Schlesinger, the editor-in-chief of Reuters. Accounts filed with Companies House indicate the business lost £700,000 in 2008.

Mr Dixon will run the enlarged Reuters Breakingviews service, bringing over 20 journalists and taking over the existing Reuters Comment operation, which had been run by Mr Dixon's former business partner, Jonathan Ford. Mr Schlesinger said that Thomson Reuters would be "talking to Jonathan about what he might like to do next".

Other shareholders of Breakingviews include Roland Rudd, who owns 14 per cent, News Corporation's Wall Street Journal, which owns nearly 6 per cent. News Corporation is the parent company of The Times.

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