Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Wednesday, Oct 01, 2025

How Michael Bloomberg became the richest man in media

Entrepreneur and philanthropist-turned politician Michael Bloomberg has been called one of most successful New York mayors in the city's history.
Now the 77-year-old media mogul apparently wants to be president, too. He is preparing to file paperwork in Alabama to qualify for that state's presidential primary. He has one big supporter already--fellow billionaire businessman Leon Cooperman, an outspoken critic of leading Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren.

Bloomberg is wealthy enough to fund his own campaign. Forbes estimates his current net worth at $52.4 billion-an amount that dwarfs not only the value of President Donald Trump's real estate empire, but also the fortunes of fellow media moguls Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner, and Sumner Redstone combined.

Just how did Bloomberg, a Boston native and son of an accountant and a secretary, amass his fortune?

Wall Street as we know it today wouldn't exist without his innovations. After earning his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1966, he got a job counting securities by hand in the "The Cage" at the former New York investment bank known as Salomon Brothers.

Bloomberg became a Wall Street star at the firm, whose leaders later convinced him to manage the company's fledgling computer systems unit in 1979.

Eventually Bloomberg worked his way up to general partner before being let go in 1981, when Salomon merged with commodities trading firm Phibro Corporation. He received a $10 million severance.

He used that money to begin building his financial media empire, co-founding Innovative Market Systems with Charles Zegar, Thomas Secunda, and Duncan MacMillan the same year.

"I didn't sit around wondering what was happening at the old firm," Bloomberg wrote in his 2001 autobiography "Bloomberg by Bloomberg". "I didn't go back and visit. I never look over my shoulder. Once finished: Gone. Life continues!"

The then-39-year-old used the financial know-how and information technology expertise he developed at Salomon to create the Bloomberg terminal in 1982, a software system with a specialized keyboard used by financial professionals to trade stocks electronically and access live market data.

The apparatus revolutionized an analog Wall Street and became a ubiquitous tool used in investment banking, competing with Thomson Reuters Eikon, FactSet, and S&P Capital IQ.

Innovative Market Systems was renamed Bloomberg L.P. in 1986. In 1990, the company created its own news service before launching Bloomberg.com in 1993.

Not content with business success, Bloomberg ran for mayor of New York City in 2001, succeeding Rudolph Giuliani in the aftermath of 9/11. Bloomberg's time as mayor was riddled with controversial policies such as stop-and-frisk policing, the rise of charter schools, and pressuring the city council to temporarily change the rules on term limits so he could run for a third term.

But New York City's overall quality of life improved under Bloomberg's tenure. Crime rates dropped. Graduation rates at city schools rose. So did city revenues and Bloomberg's own net worth.

Bloomberg L.P.'s terminal user base has more than doubled, to 325,000 subscribers currently from 160,000 in 2001, according to the company.

With a price point of $24,000 per subscriber for its terminals, the privately-held company's annual revenue eclipsed $10 billion in 2018, according to an analyst estimate.

In March, Forbes ranked Bloomberg as the ninth richest person in the world and the wealthiest media mogul on the planet.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
×