Preston, longtime Bloomberg reporter, dies

Darrell Preston, a longtime business journalist who had been with Bloomberg News for the past 16 years, died on Monday at the age of 55.

Preston had been with Bloomberg since November 2000, working in the Dallas bureau and covering public finance, state and local politics, government and public policy. His last story was on an Alaskan bond issue and ran Oct. 11.

At Bloomberg, Preston was part of a team that broke the story about the state of Jefferson County, Alabama’s finances in 2005 and covered the auction-rate securities collapse in 2008 among other stories.

“Darrell spent his career digging around some of the most arcane corners of the financial markets – muni bonds, insurance, pensions – and making them more transparent,” said Loren Steffy, a former Bloomberg and Dallas Business Journal colleague. “I first worked with him in the late 1980s. Back then, I wasn’t sure I really wanted to be a business reporter, but when I saw the stories Darrell was doing, I knew those were the kind of stories I wanted to do, too.

“As a competitor and as a colleague, Darrell always made you want to try harder, to push yourself a little more to keep up with him. Perhaps it’s a cliché to say he was a reporter’s reporter, but he truly was. He was also an all-around great guy, outstanding father, and a hell of a friend.”

He previously worked at Bond Buyer for five years covering the municipal bond market and the Dallas Business Journal for seven years, covering banking, health care, real estate, and government.

Before that, Preston was a reporter for the Wichita Business Journal from 1988 to 1995, covering real estate, banking, law and government. He started his career at the Hays Daily News in Kansas.

He won awards from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, National Press Association, New York Press Club and Foreign Press Association.

Preston is a University of Kansas graduate.