https://thenationalpulse.com/commentary/michael-bloomberg-mafia-power/‘Mafia’ Michael Bloomberg, The Bailout BillionaireThen-CIO Bill Mann appeared on a Motley Fool financial podcast in 2016, discussing the Bloomberg Terminal apparatus that accounts for a vast majority of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s immense wealth – much of it from clients funded by the Bush/Obama-era bailouts.
The Bloomberg Terminal – effectively a custom keyboard and dual monitors paired with proprietary “Bloomberg Professional†software – has become a mainstay of corporate elites since the 1980s.
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“I’m trying to use a word other than ‘mafia’, but I’m going to fail at it,†said Mann. “I think Bloomberg is the closest thing to a mafia power that exists in finance, because it is such a default, and they have been able, for years, to come in and say, ‘Well, this is our pricing. Discount? No. There’s no discount. This is our pricing.’â€
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In 2013 it was revealed that journalists at his Bloomberg media company could see inside the Terminal, i.e. spy on Bloomberg Terminal’s customers.
“Until recently, all Bloomberg employees could access information about when and how terminals were used by any customer. But after complaints by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, Bloomberg says its 2,000 or so journalists no longer have access to that information, though other staff still do. Bloomberg has more than 15,000 employees,†Quartz reported.
OK, I think "Mafia" is hyperbole (
monopolistic arm-twisting might be a better adjectival phrase). And I think "Bailout Billionaire" is not supported by facts. Absent evidence of Obama Administration extortion, Bloomberg's success was a confluence of an extremely valuable service and information becoming critical in the investment world.
That said, this shows that not only is Bloomberg one of Progs' 1%er bogeymen, but he has enabled Progs' Wall Street bogeymen. And yet Progs are considering voting for him .......
