How billionaire Mike Bloomberg got fired and what came next
Bloomberg co-founded Bloomberg LP which has lifted his net worth to $94 billion
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Billionaire Mike Bloomberg looked back on getting fired decades ago and how it affected his professional trajectory, ultimately turning him into an entrepreneurial success on Wall Street. Now, he has advice for others looking to do the same.
Bloomberg did the reflecting in a LinkedIn post, writing, "When I was 39, I was fired from the only full-time job I’ve ever had - a job I loved. The day after I was laid off, I started my own company, based on an idea nearly everyone thought would fail: making financial information available to people, right on their desktops."
The employer was Salomon Brothers, the investment bank where he held positions for 15 years spanning 1966 to 1981.
Phibro, a commodities firm, purchased the company that year. Bloomberg lost his job amid that transaction, taking $10 million in severance, as previously reported by FOX Business.
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The company that would become Bloomberg LP and put out the widely used Bloomberg Terminal not long after that in 1981. The terminal has features that present data, trading, news and other tools to professional traders, CEOs, CFOs and investment managers to name a few.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5948.71 | +31.60 | +0.53% |
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 43870.35 | +461.88 | +1.06% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 18972.420086 | +6.28 | +0.03% |
"Remember, this was before people had desktops!" Bloomberg’s LinkedIn post continued. "Setbacks are only setbacks if you allow them to be - and in order to succeed, you must first be willing to fail."
Some 325,000 people use Bloomberg Terminals, according to an August 2022 blog post from the company.
Since its beginnings in the 80s, Bloomberg LP has expanded beyond the finance-related services it offers. The company behind the terminal and Bloomberg News, TV and radio now has over 19,000 people in its workforce, according to its website.
Forbes has pointed to Bloomberg LP as serving as the foundation for Bloomberg’s multi-billion-dollar fortune.
HOW DID BLOOMBERG MAKE HIS MONEY?
He has seen his personal net worth rise over the years, with it hovering around $94.5 billion as of Friday, according to the outlet’s real-time wealth list. Five years ago, in 2018, it was an estimated at $50 billion.
Aside from Bloomberg LP, the billionaire has participated in politics.
In New York City, he ran the city in the position of mayor for a trio of terms ending in 2013. Among his initiatives, rolling out city bikes in partnership with Citigroup.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | CITIGROUP INC. | 68.95 | +0.67 | +0.98% |
He mounted a presidential campaign during the 2020 election cycle, vying with other candidates in the Democratic primary until he halted it in March of that year.
Bloomberg, who also engages in philanthropy, has previously shared social media posts about parting ways with Salomon Brothers and starting Bloomberg LP, including in a February 2020 Facebook post.
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"It took a lot of hard work, and a little bit of luck, but we got it done," he wrote in that post.
Megan Henney contributed to this report.