Moritz Benedikt was born in present Czech Republic where he studied law and economics. In 1872 he was appointed to the financial staff of the most influential paper in Austria, the Neue Freie Press. Benedikt was promoted to chief financial editor and soon became part owner of the paper. From 1908, after the death of his partner, Eduard Bacher, Benedikt was completely in charge of the paper’s editorial policy. In that position influenced the Austrian affairs. It was said that he influenced the erecting and breaking of ministries. His editorials attacked the prime minister’s electoral reforms in three different issues of the paper. These helped in having them dropped, and caused the PM’s resignation. Moritz Benedikt was a supporter of the German Liberal Party and opposed Zionism. He did not let Dr. Theodore Herzl, who was the literary editor of the newspaper, publish anything in favor of Zionism. Benedikt supported the Austro-Hungary compromise. He was elected to the upper house of the Austrian parliament (1917).