To Mike Bloomberg, every problem is an opportunity. When Bloomberg News tried to become an accredited news organization to gain access to government data that impacts markets, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), it was denied. Bloomberg News’s credibility was questioned because its stories weren’t published in a traditional newspaper.

Around the same time, the New York Times wanted access to a Terminal. Recognizing an opportunity, Bloomberg bartered Terminal access for an agreement that worthy stories from Bloomberg News would be published in the New York Times (at the latter’s discretion). Within a year, every major newspaper in the United States wanted the same deal. By 1995, Bloomberg News was American newspapers’ second-most-published news service, bested only by the Associated Press. That same year, the New York Times newspaper syndicate, comprising 700 newspapers globally, included Bloomberg News. The credibility issue was solved, and accreditation was granted. Newspapers and distribution via print media weren’t part of Bloomberg’s strategy, but solving a problem helped unlock the power of distributing through print media.  

In 1991, Mike received a call from Jon Fram about buying the bankrupt television channel Financial News Network (FNN), which later became CNBC. Mike declined, but Fram convinced him that Bloomberg’s financial data and analysis were ideal for broadcasting, especially on TV. Mike liked the broadcasting strategy but started with radio when he acquired New York AM station WNEW for $13.5 million. Bloomberg built technology to streamline audio content creation, production, and publishing, which was unheard of at the time but made reporters more productive.

From there, Bloomberg moved into television, a technology Mike says is as powerful and impactful as Gutenberg’s printing press. It began with a daily, thirty-minute show aired on Maryland Public Television and syndicated through the United States The show was an instant hit and led to what is now Bloomberg Television, a subscription television channel distributed globally.

Since then, Mike says, Bloomberg has become the first true multimedia company available on every medium: Terminal, television, print, radio, telephones, web, social media, and podcasts. Bloomberg can deliver accurate data and analysis to customers wherever they need it and however they want to consume it.

Today, according to Bloomberg’s website, it has over 21,000 employees in 159 offices in 69 countries. Mike believes that “answering to essentially no one is the ultimate situation” and has opted against listing the company on a public stock exchange. Bloomberg even bought back Merrill’s 30% ownership stake (10% in 1996 for $200 million and the remaining 20% for $4.5 billion in 2008 during the Great Financial Crisis).

I’ve focused on Mike’s entrepreneurial journey, but his autobiography also details his time as mayor of New York City, his philanthropic initiatives, and his near-death experiences as a helicopter and airplane pilot.