USA · Bias: Pro-business
Michael Bloomberg / Bloomberg LP
Who owns Bloomberg? Mostly one man. Michael Bloomberg has long held about 88% of Bloomberg LP, the private company behind the Terminal, Bloomberg News, Bloomberg TV and Businessweek. That makes it one of the very few giant newsrooms still owned by its founder — and one whose owner has also run for president. Bloomberg News exists for a disarmingly honest reason: to make the Bloomberg Terminal — the $25,000-a-year data machine on every trading desk — more valuable. Founded in 1990 as an add-on to Michael Bloomberg's financial empire, it grew into a 2,700-journalist operation that owns market news the way Reuters owns wire copy. The catch has always been the man on the masthead. When your owner is one of the richest people alive and a sometime politician, 'independent coverage' gets complicated fast. OWNERSHIP AS OF SEPTEMBER 2026 Short answer to "who owns Bloomberg News": Bloomberg LP, a private company. It isn't on the stock market, so you can't buy shares in it. Michael Bloomberg co-founded it in 1981 and owns roughly 88%, a figure widely reported for years. Merrill Lynch, an early partner, sold its last 20% back to the company in 2008. The future is the interesting part. In 2023 Michael Bloomberg said the company will pass to his charity, Bloomberg Philanthropies, which would eventually sell it (New York Times climate event, reported by Reuters, September 2023). In July 2026 Semafor reported that he had moved some of his shares to the charity, and that executives had held early talks with bankers about a possible stock market listing or another deal. The company answered that "Mike controls the firm, is the majority shareholder, and has no plans to sell the company" (Semafor, 28 July 2026; TheWrap, July 2026). As of our last check, nothing has been filed. Who runs it day to day: Vlad Kliatchko has been CEO of Bloomberg LP since 2023. John Micklethwait, a former editor of The Economist, has been editor in chief of Bloomberg News since 2015. IS BLOOMBERG NEWS LEFT OR RIGHT? Our reading: neither, really. The news side sits near the centre, and its strongest lean is towards markets, not parties. The first questions it asks are about prices, rates and deals. Bloomberg Opinion, a separate team, is centrist and pro-free-market. When we read Bloomberg headlines, the pattern we notice is less about politics and more about two habits: the market lens, where a war becomes an oil price, and headlines that change after they go up. Eight dated examples from our archive, good and bad: On 15 July 2026, SpaceX shares fell below their IPO price, and the headline said it happened "as Hype Fades." A month earlier, Bloomberg's own headlines had called the listing the biggest debut of all time. In our view, the hype didn't fade on its own. On 6 August 2026, the headline said Iran and Oman "Reach Agreement" on a Strait of Hormuz shipping route. The article's own web address, and the version sent out to other sites, began "Iran Says." The story quoted Iran's spokesman saying the text was still "under review." NPR kept "Iran says" and "close to." On 7 August 2026, most outlets said Trump "renews push" to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook. Bloomberg's headline named what was at stake: "Reviving Fed Independence Fight." We praised it. On 10 August 2026, Russia's top court removed the Yabloko party from the election ballot. Bloomberg's web address still said "anti-war Yabloko," but the headline on the page no longer did. AP, the BBC and NBC all kept the fact that it was the anti-war party. On 11 August 2026, a headline saying Trump "Lashes Out After Iranian Demands" became "Trump Makes Sweeping New Demands on Iran as Deal Hopes Dim." The article's opening line still said he "lashed out." On 29 August 2026, the headline read "Fed's Warsh Warns Inflation May Force September Rate Hike." In his speech, Warsh didn't mention a rate hike or September. It was traders who raised their bets afterwards. CNN's version said he "stays quiet on interest rates." On 3 September 2026, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on TV that no Americans had died in the Iran war. Eighteen had. Bloomberg's headline said he "Misspoke," using his own word without quote marks. Reuters and CNN wrote that he apologised. On 10 September 2026, a headline put Apple's folding iPhone Duo at "$3,199." That's the top model. The phone starts at $1,999. IS BLOOMBERG RELIABLE? CAN YOU CITE IT? Yes. It's one of the most cited business news sources in the world, and Wikipedia's editors treat it as generally reliable for facts. Bloomberg Opinion columns are opinion, so cite them as that. On the record: in 2010, the UK regulator Ofcom found Bloomberg Television in breach of its due impartiality rules over its coverage of Labour's business manifesto launch. Ofcom accepted that the breach wasn't deliberate and didn't come from political bias. The bigger question mark is about a story that didn't run. In 2013 the New York Times reported that Bloomberg's then editor in chief had stopped an investigation into the wealth of senior Chinese families, with staff saying he feared the company would be pushed out of China. Bloomberg said at the time that the story had not been killed and was still being worked on. To be straight about our own standing: everything here is our reading, not a scientific score. We don't rate outlets on a scale. We read one story at a time and show our working. WHAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY ASK Who owns Bloomberg News? Bloomberg LP, and Michael Bloomberg owns about 88% of it. He plans to leave it to his charity, Bloomberg Philanthropies. Is Bloomberg News liberal or conservative? Republican or Democrat? Michael Bloomberg was elected mayor of New York as a Republican and ran for president as a Democrat in 2020. The newsroom, in our reading, is centrist and pro-markets rather than tied to either party. Is Bloomberg a reliable source? Generally yes for facts. Read past the headline, and check whether it's news or opinion. Is Bloomberg publicly traded? No, it's private. There were reports of early talks about a listing in July 2026, but the company said Michael Bloomberg has no plans to sell. Is Bloomberg News free? Mostly no. Most articles need a subscription. The Terminal is a separate, far pricier product. WHAT CHANGED Last reviewed 28 September 2026: added the ownership section (including the July 2026 reports of a possible listing and the company's reply), the current CEO and editor, the regulator record, real reader questions, and eight dated examples from our archive.
In November 2019, Michael Bloomberg entered the Democratic presidential primary — and Bloomberg News announced, in writing, that it would not investigate its owner. Or, to keep things 'fair,' any of his Democratic rivals. Donald Trump, not a Democrat, remained fair game. The Trump campaign responded by banning Bloomberg reporters from its events, and press critics across the spectrum called it a masterclass in why billionaire-owned newsrooms make people nervous. The primary run ended in months; the case study is taught forever.