The 81-year-old billionaire announced leadership changes and a new board at the company
Photo. Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Bloomberg Philanthropies
What will happen to Bloomberg L.P. after the departure of its creator Michael Bloomberg? That question resurfaced last week after the 81-year-old billionaire announced leadership changes and a new board at the company, which he founded in 1981 after leaving the investment bank Salomon Brothers (essentially, he told employees that he's “not going to going nowhere”). Michael Bloomberg has publicly stated that 88% of his stake in the company will go to Bloomberg Philanthropies, his philanthropic arm. “But what happens next?” asks the DealBook column of the New York Times and republishes moneyreview.gr. Bloomberg Philanthropies is likely to sell Bloomberg L.P., sources told the newspaper. or take the company public sometime after the transfer, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Of course, as pointed out, the management of Bloomberg L.P. both legally and administratively could be difficult for Bloomberg Philanthropies, according to Richard Fox, founder of a law firm in Philadelphia that specializes in private foundations.
Bloomberg L.P.'s earnings will be subject to income tax even if they are a nonprofit, said Jim Friedlitz, executive director of The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, the nonprofit that owns the Philadelphia Inquirer. Bloomberg L.P. generated more than $12 billion in revenue in 2022, according to data from research firm Burton-Taylor International Consulting. As the DealBook column of The New York Times reports, “there is a way for tycoon Michael Bloomberg to drastically reduce his tax burden.” And that would happen if the billionaire sold the company and then donated the proceeds of the deal to Bloomberg Philanthropies. Finding a buyer, however, can take time. Bloomberg L.P. is a “rare” combination of a financial software, data and media company, which limits the number of potential acquirers. On top of that, any purchase would be expensive: not many of these suitors have tens of billions of dollars in cash.
