Bloomberg Media CEO Smith departing to launch startup

Justin Smith

Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith is leaving the company to launch a media startup, reports Benjamin Mullin of The Wall Street Journal.

Mullin reports, “Michael Bloomberg, the founder of financial-data colossus Bloomberg LP, said in a statement that Scott Havens, Bloomberg Media’s chief growth officer and global head of strategic partnerships, would become the division’s new CEO. Justin Smith will remain at Bloomberg as an adviser in the coming months to assist with the transition.

“‘Across his tenure, Justin and his team delivered exceptional results powered by product innovations, with 2021 representing the high-water mark in terms of Bloomberg Media’s historical performance,’ Mr. Bloomberg said.

“Since Justin Smith joined in 2013, Bloomberg Media has grown to include initiatives including its New Economy Forum events business and its Quick Take video-streaming network. Bloomberg Media also began selling digital subscriptions to Bloomberg News and invested in coverage areas such as climate change and politics. Mr. Havens is the architect of Bloomberg Media’s paywall strategy, which has generated more than 350,000 subscribers who pay about $400 annually, according to a person familiar with the matter.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.