Bloomberg is Back in Business: EX-NYC Mayor Billionaire Returns as CEO

Bloomberg LP, the global business and financial information provider announced on Wednesday that Daniel Doctoroff will be stepping down as President and Chief Executive Officer of the company effective from the end of this year.

Bloomberg LP will not name a replacement, but rather will again be led by Mr. Michael Bloomberg, its founder and majority shareholder, with support from the existing leadership team.

Michael Bloomberg served as the Mayor of New York City for three consecutive terms from January 1, 2002 – December 31, 2013, and will best be remembered as the man who limited the size of soda cups.

According to Forbes' 400, he is the eleventh-richest person in the US and the sixteenth-wealthiest in the world with a net worth of $34 billion. He still holds 88% ownership of Bloomberg L.P., which dominates the communication financial world with its Bloomberg Terminal.

Following his mayorship, Michael Bloomberg was rumored as trying to found a new "centrist" American political party and run for president. With this announcement, he might be signaling that this will not come to pass in the next election cycle and Wall Street will have President Hillary Clinton to run Washington instead.

Mr. Doctoroff joined Bloomberg LP as President in January 2008 and became CEO in July 2011. Prior to joining, Doctoroff served for six years as New York City’s Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding in the Bloomberg administration. The company boasts that during Mr. Doctoroff’s tenure at Bloomberg LP it achieved:

• Company revenues increased from $5.4 billion in 2007 to over $9 billion in 2014 in spite of the impact of the financial crisis and its aftermath.
• Bloomberg’s market share in the financial information sector increased from 26% to 32%.
• While the total number of securities and investment professionals globally has fallen, Bloomberg Terminal subscribers have grown from 273,000 to 321,000, through greater penetration of existing markets and diversification into new markets, including emerging markets and corporations.
• The company successfully diversified beyond the Terminal, which serves front-office personnel such as traders, salespeople and portfolio managers, into “enterprise” products and solutions, with revenues growing from those businesses from $305 million to $1.08 billion.
• The company expanded into the markets for legal, government and alternative energy information, providing critical information for Terminal subscribers and serving new end users.

“This is a sad day for me and my company,” said Mr. Bloomberg. “I really wanted Dan to stay and continue in his leadership role. But I understand his decision." He added that he never intended to be back at the helm, but "the more time I spent reacquainting myself with the company, the more exciting and interesting I found it."

Mr. Doctoroff had also worked as Managing Partner of Oak Hill Capital Partners (a private equity firm) and an investment banker at Lehman Brothers before becoming a part of the Bloomberg team. He became involved in municipal issues and economic development as a result of leading the effort to bring the 2012 Olympic Games to New York, which ultimately became the blueprint for New York’s post-9/11 economic development strategy.

Mr. Doctoroff emphasized that, while in the short-term he would like to focus more of his time on not-for-profit interests, he is not leaving Bloomberg LP for another specific opportunity.