Will Walter Isaacson head To Bloomberg?



(image via baekdal)

Bloomberg LP, which seemed, on the face of things, a media juggernaut immune to the slings and arrows of this outrageous economy, is restructuring. Does this mean the end of the eccentric -- because of their perceived economic imperviousness -- "Bloomberg Way?" This news has been met in the precincts of Chattering Classes with some awe and pleas to pause and drink it all in for a moment. Much of Bloomberg LP's resistance to the ebbs and flows of the economy is based on their core money-generating product, the Bloomberg Terminal. As Brian Stelter writes for the Times, "About 85 percent of Bloomberg’s revenue comes from its terminals, which are considered indispensable on trading floors." Things change; from Rafat Ali Paidcontent:

"These changes come as the economy worsens and Bloomberg’s core customer base, Wall St. firms, are really suffering and have started eliminating Bloomberg terminal licenses. Also the company is facing a bigger competitor in the newly merged Thomson Reuters, with each holding a little more than 30 percent of the financial data market."

More here.

And from Portfolio's Jeff Bercovicci:

"But ultimately more significant could be smaller adjustments meant to make Bloomberg a more rewarding place to work. These reportedly range from a newly-stated commitment to flexible work schedules to a rejiggering of one of the most distinctive features of life at Bloomberg, the program of bonuses known as 'certs.'

"Bloomberg's editor in chief, Matthew Winkler, dramatized the ushering in of the new era with a skit, performed before employees in the firm's Manhattan headquarters, sending up the company's often laborious and time-intensive editing process. (The punchline involved a story about the first Gulf War finally making it into publication.)

"But, in fact, according to a source, many of the changes now taking place are meant to diminish Winkler's influence within Bloomberg and remove aspects of the newsroom culture that he put in place. They are widely seen as emanating from new Bloomberg president Dan Doctoroff, who, in May, installed former Time Inc. editor in chief Norman Pearlstine as chief content officer. (Pearlstine is rumored to be in discussions about bringing Walter Isaacson, who edited Time when Pearlstine was running Time Inc., into Bloomberg to be the top editor for multimedia operations; Pearlstine said, via email, that there's no truth to that rumor.)"

The ever-upwardly mobile Walter Isaacson of the Aspen Institute? That Centrist Summer Camp For Establishmentarian Intellectuals? Possible future Secretary of State Walter Isaacson? The celebrated biographer of Kissinger? Michael Wolff wrote of Walter in 2003:

"So many of us in a certain media generation (Walter is 50) have a Walter thing. This isn’t my first go at trying to explain the obsession. Walter, who briefly loomed large in the history of the Internet, is a figure in the book I wrote on the subject. In it, I tried to dissect Walter’s unique confection of classicism and opportunism, remarkable diligence and rank ambition, that is so compelling (and often infuriating) to so many of us. (As the Internet passes into kitsch, and its wildest manifestation, AOL, into farce, my book Burn Rate is becoming a musical. The composer, Paul Scott Goodman, besides writing songs for dancing CEOs and a chorus line of venture capitalists, has also written a song called 'Kneeling at the Altar of Walter.')

"Walter is our fantasy life: a media-business action figure. A perfect combination of vast intelligence, adroit political talents, impeccable connections, savvy publicity skills, deep reserves of corporate sucking-up abilities, and an equal facility with both high- and middlebrow sensibilities. And on top of that, he’s a good writer (his Kissinger biography—which he wrote when? At what hour of the day?—is a brilliant thing). What’s more, he can go to an endless number of parties without apparent fatigue."

More (From "The Altar of Walter").



(image via aspeninstitute)