Why a Bloomberg presidential run might be good for his media operation

Andrew Wallenstein, co-editor in chief of Variety, writes Saturday that a suspected presidential run by former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg might be good for the media operations at his company.

Wallenstein writes, “It’s hard to imagine his departure could create more turbulence than Bloomberg Media experienced in 2015, which was marked by key executive departures amid well publicized clashes between the founder and some of his top hires.

“While Bloomberg Media has always strove to keep its inner workings quietly tamped down inside its notoriously secretive, tightly controlled corporate culture, tensions spilled out into the open via multiple damaging press accounts depicting a company at war with itself.

“The predominant narrative that has emerged is that since Bloomberg left the mayor’s mansion and returned to running the company, he has stirred up resentment for curbing risky ambitions to turn his empire into a multimedia dynamo in order to return focus to the safer, more profitable route of the terminal business.

“Perhaps it’s no coincidence that some of Bloomberg Media’s brightest stars defected last year, including chief content officer Josh Tyrangiel, who joined Vice Media, and digital chief Josh Topolsky, who is currently seeking financing for another startup. There’s even been rumors that CEO Justin Smith could be the next to go.”

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