Bloomberg hires London editor for its rich coverage

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

Rob LaFranco, a former Forbes journalist, is joining Bloomberg News as an editor responsible for coverage of the world’s wealthiest individuals, a spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday to Talking Biz News.

He will be based in London and will start Jan. 9.

A former Forbes reporter, LaFranco joins Bloomberg from Warner Music Group, where he was a senior member of the company’s communications and marketing team. Prior to joining Warner Music, he was an editorial consultant to BBC, Wired, VH1 and Rolling Stone, where he launched the magazine’s Rich List franchise.

Bloomberg has been expanding its work in compiling information about the world’s richest people to compete against one of the biggest franchises at Forbes.

In January, Bloomberg hired Matthew Miller as an editor at large. Miller had once been the global wealth editor, in charge of some of the magazine’s most lucrative franchises, from the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans to the global billionaires list.

This summer, Bloomberg Markets, the monthly that goes primarily to Bloomberg terminal users on Wall Street, unveiled a cover story on eight billionaires who have never appeared on any other wealth lists.