Seeded, not inherited. Built infrastructure for finance by converting experience into capital—and capital into something indispensable.
Michael Bloomberg was not rich all along. But he also wasn’t starting from zero.
Born in 1942 to a middle-class family, his father was a bookkeeper—not a tycoon. Bloomberg studied engineering at Johns Hopkins and earned an MBA from Harvard.
He spent roughly 15 years at Salomon Brothers, rising to partner. Well-paid. Still an employee.
When Salomon Brothers merged, Bloomberg was let go.
Instead of a new job, he received a ~$10 million partnership payout.
That money became the seed for Bloomberg LP.
No venture capital. No inheritance. No safety net.
Bloomberg invested roughly $5 million of his own money to start Innovative Market Systems.
The idea was precise: build a computer system that delivered real-time financial data and analytics directly to traders.
This wasn’t speculative. He had lived the problem every day on Wall Street.
Bloomberg solved distribution before competitors noticed.
Instant revenue. Instant credibility.
Traders didn’t want Bloomberg. They needed it.
Bloomberg LP became a quasi-monopoly in financial data.
Bloomberg later bought back Merrill’s stake and kept the company private. It grew into a business worth tens of billions.
No ads. No consumers. No hype cycles.
Michael Bloomberg didn’t inherit wealth. He converted experience into capital, then capital into infrastructure.
He didn’t gamble from nothing. He bet everything he had—and built something indispensable.