Bloomberg LP

• Date founded: 1981
• Industry: Financial; software; data; media
• Corporate headquarters: New York City, New York
• Type: Private

Overview

Bloomberg LP is a privately held global information and technology company with a far-reaching media influence. Its 176 locations around the world as of April 2023 inform readers about developments in business, technology, and related fields. Its global headquarters is in New York City, while its European headquarters—which opened in 2017—is located in London, England. The company relies heavily on technology and innovation, in particular, the contributions of its computer engineers. Bloomberg moved its engineers to a new technology hub in San Francisco, California, in 2015 to recruit and retain the best engineering talent.

Bloomberg provides round-the-clock financial and trading news via its website as well as magazines, radio, and television. Its platforms also provide general news and sports. Bloomberg data terminals operate in financial services settings around the globe. The company publishes the monthly magazines Bloomberg Markets and Bloomberg Businessweek and operates Bloomberg Radio and Bloomberg Television, a business news cable channel.

The Bloomberg Terminal is an important tool and source of revenue for the company. This integrated platform serves more than three hundred thousand customers by streaming financial information, news, and trading data. The terminal, also called the Bloomberg Professional Service, was the starting point for business founder Michael Bloomberg when it debuted in 1982. Its rapid growth led to the introduction of Bloomberg News and, ten years later, Bloomberg Tradebook. The latter provides trade services to individuals, while the Bloomberg Terminal serves large institutional investors. The average annual cost of the professional service to institutional customers in the md-2020s was around $32,000.

History

Michael Bloomberg served three terms as mayor of New York City. Forbes estimated the billionaire businessperson, philanthropist, and publisher was worth $104.7 billion, as of January 2025. At that time, he owned more than 88 percent of Bloomberg LP.

Bloomberg was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 14, 1942, and grew up in nearby Medford. He worked as a parking lot attendant to help pay for his college education. He attended Johns Hopkins University, graduating in 1964 with a degree in electrical engineering. In 1966, he earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Bloomberg’s first job in the financial services industry was with Salomon Brothers, a former Wall Street investment bank. He spent his time in the bank vault, where he counted bond and stock certificates before he was promoted to bond trading. He became a partner in 1972 and, four years later, was named a general partner. He was head of equity trading and sales until 1979 when he was put in charge of information systems. Though this was a demotion, Bloomberg looked upon it as an opportunity to innovate.

When commodity trading firm Phibro bought Salomon Brothers in 1981, Bloomberg walked away with a $10 million severance package. He used the money to start his own business, Innovative Market Solutions. Bloomberg used the most up-to-date information systems technology to provide information about US Treasury bond prices to traders. He gained some high-profile companies as clients. The first batch of twenty terminals was called the Market Master and was in use at Merrill Lynch by the close of 1982. Merrill Lynch, at that time, owned 30 percent of the company and had an exclusivity agreement that prevented Bloomberg from selling his equipment to competitors until the late 1980s.

In addition to the influence Bloomberg had in the financial sector, he was also active in politics. He ran for the office of mayor of New York City and was elected to his first term in 2001. He was re-elected in 2005 and again in 2009. In 2023, Bloomberg announced plans to donate his stake in Bloomberg LP to Bloomberg Philanthropies, his charitable organization.

Impact

The Bloomberg Terminal was so important in the financial technology sector that one of its devices was included in the “Tools of the Trade” display at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, California. The terminal is displayed near millennia-old tokens ancient Sumerians used to track the trading of sheep and other goods. The modern trade-tracking tool processes 400 billion pieces of market information daily.

The Bloomberg Terminal provides its more than 325,000 subscribers with a wealth of information to analyze the market. It also offers users the chance to chat and execute trades. The terminal arrived on the market at a time of financial turmoil as well as innovation. In the early 1980s, the United States was in the midst of a financial downturn. At the same time, stock exchanges in New York and around the world were transitioning to electronic trading. As a startup, Bloomberg’s business was taking on established companies that included Wall Street behemoths such as Dow Jones. The company’s small size proved to be an advantage. Bloomberg could innovate without concerns for other elements of his business. Once the exclusivity contract with Merrill Lynch ended, Bloomberg Terminals helped the company grow 25 to 30 percent annually. The company upgraded the terminal frequently, adding color monitors in 1991, for example.

Near the beginning of the twenty-first century, Bloomberg transitioned from selling hardware—the terminal—to offering access to subscribers via personal computers. Within a few years, the company’s hardware included accessories such as custom keyboards, fingerprint scanners, and dual-screen displays for use with computers running Bloomberg Professional. Much of Bloomberg Professional retains the feel of the early terminals. The screens are packed with information, including tables and charts. The default screen features the original amber characters on a black background, though users can change the settings if they wish.

Bloomberg LP maintains a private network. This reassures users in the financial sector that their information is secure and private, and information is provided quickly. The speed to which information is available has become more critical with the use of personal computers and the rise of the Internet.

Bloomberg Professional offers a wealth of information that traders can use. For example, a graphic feature tracks every ship on the move around the world. Traders can check the ships’ cargo, speed, location, and destination.

Bibliography

"Bloomberg: History." Union College, 10 Oct. 2024, libguides.union.edu/bloombergterminal/history. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.

“Bloomberg Terminals: How Much More You’ll Pay Next Year.” NeuGroup, 9 Oct. 2024, www.neugroup.com/bloomberg-terminals-how-much-more-youll-pay-next-year/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.

“Bloomberg Unveils New European Headquarters in the City of London.” Bloomberg, 24 Oct. 2017, www.bloomberg.com/company/announcements/new-european-hq-unveiled. Accessed 1 Feb. 202.

Chen, James. “What Is Bloomberg?” Investopedia, 23 Oct. 2024, www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bloomberg.asp. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.

Kopp, Carol M. “Who Is Michael Bloomberg?” Investopedia, 28 Jan. 2025, www.investopedia.com/terms/m/michael-bloomberg.asp. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.

McCracken, Harry. “How the Bloomberg Terminal Made History—And Stays Ever Relevant.” Fast Company, 6 Oct. 2015, www.fastcompany.com/3051883/the-bloomberg-terminal. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.

“Michael Bloomberg.” Forbes, www.forbes.com/profile/michael-bloomberg. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.