Short description
The remarkable story of how Michael Bloomberg created a media empire Lots of entrepreneurs make money. Lots of entrepreneurs who make money write books. Few of those books make you glad they did. This one does.
Long description
The remarkable story of how Michael Bloomberg created a media empire Lots of entrepreneurs make money. Lots of entrepreneurs who make money write books. Few of those books make you glad they did. This one does. -The New York Times Book Review A classic tale of a nimble, customer-focused, entrepreneurial David outsmarting bureaucratic, ossified, corporate Goliaths. -Business Week Entertaining, engaging, and informative, Bloomberg by Bloomberg is packed with great advice about how to start a lean, hungry company-and how to keep it that way. -Bryan Burrough, coauthor, Barbarians at the Gate Brash, aggressive, and supremely self-confident, Michael Bloomberg, the visionary leader of the world's fastest-growing media empire, has been hailed as the new standard for what it takes to win in the Information Age. Dismissed from Salomon Brothers in 1981, Bloomberg immediately took his money and acerbic personality and started Bloomberg L.P. Bolstered by a $30 million investment from Merrill Lynch, the company and the man have been sprinting ahead of the pack ever since. Only twenty years after founding, he's at the top of his industry. And on June 5, 2001, he added mayoral candidate for New York City to his list of accomplishments and aspirations. If elected, powerhouse Michael Bloomberg will bring his own brand of leadership-and personal style-to the city that never sleeps.
Review
In 1982, after being fired from his first job with Salomon, the author took his hefty termination compensation and started Bloomberg Financial Services with financial backing from Merrill Lynch. Now it is a major player - a $800 million media empire spanning magazines, on-line financial services and business news on television. The company's services keep track of the world's financial markets and it has gone on to give large, well-established organisations such as Reuters something to worry about. This book (written with help from Matthew Winkler) was first published in 1997 and is now re-issued in paperback with a new preface to coincide with the author's candidacy for mayor of New York City in the 2001 elections. Bloomberg makes no secret of why he wrote it: he wanted to see his name in print and he wanted his firm's name in every bookshop, but he also wanted to say something of practical value to others, particularly those starting in business. And the book certainly makes his idiosyncratic style clear. His offices have no partitions and are totally open plan. There are no job titles and his best thinking seems to be done on rollerblades in New York's Central Park. Yet growth has been proceeding at 40% annually. His methods seem to work. The style is journalistic and punchy, the content entertaining and informative and you get a real feeling of a man who revels in his work, gets to the nub of things and makes success happen. The approaches are very personal, and may be difficult for others to emulate, but the picture painted of this area of business, of Wall Street and of entrepreneurial flair in full flight is well presented. (Kirkus UK)
Table of contents
- The Last Supper: The Thrill of Getting Fired: Tarrytown 1981. Capitalism, Here I Come: School, Work, and Hard Knocks. I Love Mondays: Entrepreneurship: Vocation and Avocation. We Can Do That: Elementary Journalism, Not Rocket Science. No Is No Answer: Establishment Ignorance and Arrogance. Money Talks: Textbook Multimedia. Computers for Virgins: Technology: Politics and Promises. Management 101: The Bloomberg Way. Coming Up Next: America's a Wonderful Country. Out of the Office: Character and Consistency. Wealth, Wisdom, and Work: Philanthropy and Public Service. Afterword. Index.