By Thomas Bonner

On Tuesday, October 22nd, Peter T. Grauer, the Chairman Emeritus of Bloomberg L.P., visited Lehman College for an exclusive discussion with President Fernando Delgado. Alongside Lehman’s School of Business, this event was organized by the New York Jobs CEO Council, a nonprofit dedicated to creating equal opportunities and dismantling barriers for New Yorkers from diverse backgrounds. Many business leaders allied with this organization have pledged to diversify their workforces by recruiting from underrepresented talent pools. During his visit, The Meridian was honored to interview Grauer, who shared his unique insights into Bloomberg and his experiences as Chairman Emeritus and the former CEO.

In 2009, Peter Grauer wanted Bloomberg to become the ‘most influential news source for the financial and business community.’

The Meridian: “How is Bloomberg continuing to pursue this vision, particularly as the media landscape evolves with new digital platforms and competitors?” 

Peter Grauer: “I think the hypothesis which I put on the table, as you have articulated, has been accomplished. [Achieved through] Bloomberg News around the world, through our 135 different news bureaus, and the 2,500 journalists who are writing on average about 10,000 stories a day.”

“The access that we have to newsmakers around the world and the fact that many of our competitors have shrunk during this period of time. (...)  [This] has put us in an enviable position as far as the world of finance and commerce is concerned. The foundation being built by Matt Winkler. John Micklethwait [the current Editor-in-Chief at Bloomberg] has really led the organization over the last eight years with his numbers. (…) Because of the financial status of Bloomberg, while our competitors were shrinking, we were basically able to continue to hire the best journalists in the world.”

“We have a footprint, number one. (...) Number two, we have access to the data and the analytics, [which] gives us a competitive advantage as we compete with internet providers. When I talk about Bloomberg, often I talk about a three-legged table, and the three legs of the table are news, data, and analytics, and news is as important as almost any other part of our business.”

Grauer has played a key role in shaping Bloomberg’s commitment to corporate citizenship.

M: “What role do partnerships with nonprofits and educational institutions play in Bloomberg’s vision for corporate citizenship and its global impact?”

PG: “There is [other] no organization in the world that has done the following. Number one, this will be our 43rd consecutive year of record revenue growth. So every year since Mike started the company in 1982, we’ve had record performance.”

“Number two, we operate to a high level. [With] a higher purpose, and this higher purpose is on two levels. Level number one, (...) everybody that comes to work every day understands this perfectly clearly: we bring transparency to the world of the opaque. In doing so, [we] have dramatically reduced the cost of doing business in the global capital markets and freed up money for investment in the public and private sectors. When people walk through the doors every day, they know that’s what we do. We basically deal in democratizing the flow of information.”

“The second higher purpose is that 85 cents of every dollar of value we create for our controlled shareholder, Mike Bloomberg, basically goes to his foundation. [With this,] we’re changing the world every single day.”

M: “Fascinating. Can you share a particular example?”

PG: “In September of 2019, I was on my way to India to meet, among other things, with Prime Minister Modi about some business-related issues. I went to the Bloomberg Philanthropies team, and they said they had given over $100 million to various charities in India. So we do this all over the world. Everybody who comes to work at Bloomberg knows that our higher purpose is really what drives everything. (...) It is deeply, deeply integrated into the fabric of the firm.”

Bloomberg is redefining the future of decision-making through AI-powered insights.

M: “With technology constantly evolving, how is Bloomberg leveraging AI and machine learning advancements to enhance the Terminal's capabilities and user experience?”

PG: “The first [AI] application was primarily focused on the news organization and providing news sentiment to identify trends in the markets that we could then write about. And it has progressed quite dramatically. We have just over 9,000 engineers, with about 800 focused 100% on AI, determining where we need to bring AI into product development. It tends to focus on news and research, done through a very deliberate lens, to ensure we provide the necessary resources to deliver viable products in the marketplace. It is an integral part of our business strategy, but we are embracing it with caution because, with every new technology, you have to be careful with how it’s integrated into existing systems. (...) Virtually everything we do from an AI perspective is terminal-focused because the terminal is the entry point into all of Bloomberg's financial information.”

Grauer has had a history of involvement in ‘Out Leadership’ and other diversity-focused organizations.

M:  “How do you and Bloomberg’s vision for a diversified workforce serve as a strategic asset for the company’s success, particularly in recruiting and retaining top talent?”

PG: “Well, it’s very much a work in progress. We have been focused on diversity since Mike started the company in 1982, and it’s always been integral to how we view ourselves as an organization. In 2014, I sat down with Mike and said, as chairman, I will lead our D&I effort. This focuses on various areas, including our workforce makeup, which is currently about 38% female and 62% male. These numbers have been changing in favor of more women for a while.”

"It’s not just women; it’s people of color and those of different sexual orientations. We have a world-class leadership team driving our D&I strategy, and everyone in the organization knows that. It is critically important to have a diverse and inclusive workforce. We are in a war for talent every day, so we must create the most welcoming environment possible. We spend considerable time and effort on it.”

“So everyone that comes to work knows this is an important competitive advantage. We have programs to identify individuals early in their careers for leadership investment, enabling them to take on more responsibility from a diversity point of view. This focus is important from a business perspective. I like to use the phrase, it’s a race without a finish line. And as far as I’m concerned, we’re never going to be as diverse as we perhaps should be, but we’re focusing on it. I review diversity and inclusion business plans on an annual basis and conduct semi-annual business reviews to ensure our leaders remain engaged in this area. But it’s very important for us.”