Michael Bloomberg is one of the most respected men in the State of New York and in New York City. Bloomberg was born in 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts to Polish immigrants. His father was a bookkeeper and his mother was a secretary. Bloomberg put himself through Johns Hopkins university and from Harvard in 1966 with a Masters in Business Administration. Shortly after school Bloomberg found a job with the red hot investment banking firm Salomon Brothers and quickly rose to partner in 1972. After Salomon’s demise in 1981, Michael Bloomberg received a large partner buyout in excess of $10 million.

Michael Bloomberg decided to use his newfound wealth to start his own business, and in 1981 he formed Innovative Market Systems, which he would later rename to Bloomberg. The company originally sold computer terminals to Wall Street investment banks that would provide market news and stock data. The Bloomberg Terminal was a dual screen standalone, portable, and “open,” or PC-connectible software that provided premier multimedia news, electronic communications, specialized financial computation services, financial pricing, advanced data analytics, and data for all major global securities markets. Early on, Bloomberg did not have many customers, as the Bloomberg Terminal was seen as a futuristic and ambitious concept. Nevertheless Bloomberg was able to secure a sale of its new, (not yet completed terminal), from Merrill Lynch ONLY if Bloomberg could deliver the terminals to Merrill Lynch within 6 months.

Upon delivery of the Bloomberg Terminal, Merrill Lynch was so impressed that they ordered 20 units for their traders, and agreed to purchase a 30% stake in IMS for $30 million. With fresh funding, and the expertise of Merrill Lynch elite traders, Michael Bloomberg was able to develop and improve his terminal system to appeal to the broader market. In 1984, Bloomberg brought his Terminal to the world market, but faced over 20 different competitors who were supplying similar services to top Wall Street firms. However, what set Bloomberg Terminal apart from the competition and allowed for the company to capture the market was its ability to go beyond surface level data. For example, on the Terminal, a trader could access roughly 40 links to in-depth information on any bond, which were displayed around a central chart displaying the bond’s current price. The Terminal also provided in depth and colorful data analytics that was unrivaled by any other analytics firm.

In 1986, Michael Bloomberg officially changed the firm’s name to Bloomberg L.P. Soon after changing the name and receiving much success on Wall Street, the firm experienced explosive growth. Today Bloomberg L.P. has millions of Terminal subscribers including The White House, the Vatican, Bank of England, and virtually every large financial services company in the world. Bloomberg’s news service has over 150 bureaus 73 countries worldwide. The firm boasts revenues of $10+ Billion. Michael Bloomberg’s personal net-worth is estimated around $56+ Billion.

What I learned from researching Michael Bloomberg is that you can never be too old to start a business. Bloomberg was 39 when he started IMS, and has never stopped innovating. Bloomberg never stopped developing his terminal system, and I admire him for completely transforming the way people receive and perceive their news and market data. The Bloomberg Terminal at the time revolutionized the way traders received news and market data, and helped traders make better decisions for themselves and their clients. Bloomberg had the passion and drive to change the way Americans, and the world views news and data. Bloomberg news has a large influence today on millions of Americans, and continues to influence market data by providing second by second in depth information on market news combined with data analytics.