Fired from Salomon Brothers, Bloomberg Built a $109 Billion Empire from Setback

Source: [1] After 15 years at Salomon, Mike Bloomberg was fired—he (https://fortune.com/2025/09/23/billionaire-mike-bloomberg-fired-salomon-brothers-job-entrepreneurship-business-media-tech-empire/)

[2] Bloomberg by Bloomberg - The New York Times Web Archive (https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/bloomberg-bloomberg.html)

[3] Michael Bloomberg: Getting Fired Fueled His Billion … (https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/michael-bloomberg-getting-fired-fueled-his-billion-dollar/452180)

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Mike Bloomberg’s career trajectory took a pivotal turn in 1981 when he was abruptly terminated as a partner at Salomon Brothers after 15 years of service. The Wall Street firm, then a dominant force in securities trading, merged with Phibro Corporation, a publicly traded commodities trading company. Bloomberg, who had risen from an entry-level clerk to a partner overseeing systems development, received a $10 million severance package but was excluded from the merged entity. This event, which Bloomberg later described as a “bittersweet” moment, catalyzed the creation of his media and technology empire.

The morning after his firing, Bloomberg founded Innovative Market Solutions, which would evolve into Bloomberg LLC. Partnering with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, and Charles Zegar, he leveraged his severance to develop financial data and software solutions. The company’s flagship product, the Bloomberg Terminal, revolutionized real-time financial data distribution, becoming a critical tool for 325,000 professionals globally. By 2025, Bloomberg LLC generates nearly $15 billion in annual revenue, with Bloomberg owning 88% of the firm. His personal net worth is estimated at $109 billion.

Bloomberg’s experience at Salomon Brothers shaped his leadership philosophy. He emphasized adaptability, noting that long-term planning must coexist with flexibility. “The best-laid plans often go awry, and you have to be able to roll with changes and adapt to them,” he stated in a Fortune interview. The firing also reinforced his belief in rewarding loyalty. At Bloomberg LLC, employees receive commemorative pylons for tenure milestones, fostering a culture where the average staff tenure is 7.8 years—significantly higher than the national average of 3.9 years.

The transition from Salomon to Bloomberg LLC highlighted New York City’s role as a hub for innovation. Bloomberg’s decision to launch his firm in the city, despite a national recession, underscored the advantages of access to skilled talent, capital, and global markets. The Manhattan Institute noted that New York’s density and diversity of industries historically enabled reinvention, a trait Bloomberg’s company exemplified.

Bloomberg’s reflections on his career reveal a nuanced perspective on failure and opportunity. “Getting fired was hard, but I never held it against the people involved,” he said. “I took much more from the job than a paycheck.” He credited Salomon’s mentors, including John Gutfreund and William Salomon, for instilling values of ethics and hard work. These principles, he argued, underpinned Bloomberg’s success, transforming a setback into a foundation for global influence in finance, media, and philanthropy.

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[4] The Reinventive City - Manhattan Institute (https://manhattan.institute/article/the-reinventive-city)