Blog Post #1 – Intro

Bloomberg.com is the website for Bloomberg L.P., a privately-owned business and financial news provider. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg founded the company in 1982 and remains the company’s principal owner.

Bloomberg’s philosophy is to give decision makers around the globe plenty of information, and they mainly accomplish this task through Bloomberg Professional services. When the company began, its professional service was the main attraction, and big-time investment bank Merrill Lynch was their first customer. In the 1990s, the company expanded its model to include news services.

Bloomberg has continued to expand since adding news services, and today Bloomberg produces original content in digital, radio and television mediums. The company has also published more than 400 books through its Bloomberg Press wing.

Despite its versatility, Bloomberg’s cash cow is its financial data and analytic wing – Bloomberg Professional – which offers charts, ratios, projections, expectations and other information for traders and investors looking for data to support their strategies.

The Bloomberg terminal, which can often come with a subscription to Bloomberg Professional, is a massive software program (it can also come with actual Bloomberg hardware) that enables users to see all kinds of information about publicly traded companies, such as their top shareholders, equity information and analytic reports from reputable firms suggesting whether to buy, hold or sell stock.

The terminal is far from cheap – it costs nearly $20,000 – and accounted for 85% of the company’s revenue as of 2011, according to Privco.com.

The company also provides data and analytic services in law, government and energy industries, publishes two magazines – Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg Markets, and in 2011 acquired the Bureau of National Affairs, an information source for labor, tax and regulatory lawyers.

Daniel Doctoroff serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Bloomberg L.P., Peter Grauer is the company’s chairman and a long-time board member, and Matthew Winkler is editor-in-chief of the two-time Pulitzer finalist Bloomberg News.

Ultimately, Bloomberg is a giant in global business and financial information. They penetrate all available mediums, including mobile, and boast “C-level executives” and “the global financial elite” as its most loyal audience members.