From the Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Smith, 52, sees opportunity to help address crisis in trust among news consumers
Bloomberg Media Chief Executive Justin Smith said he is stepping down effective immediately to found a new media company.
“The news industry is facing a crisis in consumer trust and confidence due to the distorting influence of social media and rising levels of polarization and parochialism,” Mr. Smith said in an email Tuesday. “My plan is to launch a premium news business that serves unbiased journalism to a global audience and provides a high-quality platform for the best journalists in the world.”
It couldn’t be learned how many journalists Mr. Smith is looking to recruit for his new venture or how much money he plans to raise. Mr. Smith declined to be interviewed for this article.
Michael Bloomberg, the founder of financial-data colossus Bloomberg LP, said in a statement that Scott Havens, Bloomberg Media’s chief growth officer and global head of strategic partnerships, would become the division’s new CEO. Mr. Smith will remain at Bloomberg as an adviser in the coming months to assist with the transition.
“Across his tenure, Justin and his team delivered exceptional results powered by product innovations, with 2021 representing the high-water mark in terms of Bloomberg Media’s historical performance,” Mr. Bloomberg said.
Since Mr. Smith joined in 2013, Bloomberg Media has grown to include new initiatives including its New Economy Forum events business and its Quick Take video-streaming network. Bloomberg Media also began selling digital subscriptions to Bloomberg News and invested in coverage areas such as climate change and politics. Mr. Havens is the architect of Bloomberg Media’s paywall strategy, which has generated more than 350,000 subscribers who pay about $400 annually, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Not including its media division, Bloomberg LP generated more than $11 billion of revenue in 2020, according to Burton-Taylor International Consulting, a research firm that tracks financial-data companies. Much of Bloomberg’s revenue comes from its data-terminal business....
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And at the New York Times:
