''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based
Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg L.P. is a privately held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was co-founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Zegar, and a ...
The magazine debuted in New York City in September 1929. Bloomberg Businessweek business magazines are located in the
Bloomberg Tower
731 Lexington Avenue is a mixed-use glass skyscraper on Lexington Avenue, on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 2004, it houses the headquarters of Bloomberg L.P. and as a result, is sometimes referred to informally as ...
, 731
Lexington Avenue
Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street. Along it ...
, Manhattan in New York City and market magazines are located in the
Citigroup Center
The Citigroup Center (formerly Citicorp Center and also known by its address, 601 Lexington Avenue) is an office skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1977 to house the headquarters of Citibank, it is tal ...
Third Avenue
Third Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, as well as in the center portion of the Bronx. Its southern end is at Astor Place and St. Mark's Place. It transitions into Cooper Squ ...
, Manhattan in New York City.
History
''Businessweek'' was first published based in New York City in September 1929, weeks before the stock market crash of 1929. The magazine provided information and opinions on what was happening in the business world at the time. Early sections of the magazine included marketing, labor, finance, management and Washington Outlook, which made ''Businessweek'' one of the first publications to cover national political issues that directly impacted the business world.
''Businessweek'' was originally published to be a resource for business managers. However, in the 1970s, the magazine shifted its strategy and added consumers outside the business world. , the magazine was carrying more advertising pages annually than any other magazine in the United States. ''Businessweek'' began publishing its annual rankings of United States
business school
A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, or ...
MBA programs in 1988.
Stephen B. Shepard served as editor-in-chief from 1984 until 2005 when he was chosen to be the founding dean of the
CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York is a public graduate journalism school located in New York City. One of the 24 institutions comprising the City University of New York, or CUNY, the school opene ...
. Under Shepard, ''Businessweek''s readership grew to more than six million in the late 1980s. He was succeeded by Stephen J. Adler of '' The Wall Street Journal''. In 2006, Businessweek started publishing annual rankings of undergraduate business programs in addition to its MBA program listing.
Recession and Bloomberg LP acquisition
''Businessweek'' suffered a decline in circulation during the
late-2000s recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...
as advertising revenues fell one-third by the start of 2009 and the magazine's circulation fell to 936,000. In July 2009, it was reported that McGraw-Hill was trying to sell ''Businessweek'' and had hired Evercore Partners to conduct the sale. Because of the magazine's liabilities, it was suggested that it might change hands for the nominal price of $1 to an investor who was willing to incur losses turning the magazine around.
In late 2009,
Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg L.P. is a privately held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was co-founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Zegar, and a ...
bought the magazine—reportedly for between $2million to $5million plus assumption of liabilities—and renamed it ''Bloomberg BusinessWeek''. It is now believed McGraw-Hill received the high end of the speculated price, at $5million, along with the assumption of debt.
2010−2018
In early 2010, the magazine title was restyled ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' (with a lowercase "w") as part of a redesign. , the magazine was losing $30million per year, about half of the $60million it was reported losing in 2009. Adler resigned as editor-in-chief and was replaced by Josh Tyrangiel, who had been deputy managing editor of '' Time'' magazine. In 2016, Bloomberg announced changes to Businessweek, which was losing between $20 and $30 million. Nearly 30 Bloomberg News journalists were let go across the U.S., Europe and Asia and it was announced that a new version of Bloomberg Businessweek would launch the following year. In addition, editor in chief Ellen Pollock stepped down from her position and Washington Bureau Chief Megan Murphy was named as the next editor in chief. Megan Murphy served as editor from November 2016; until she stepped down from the role in January 2018 and Joel Weber was appointed by the editorial board in her place.
"The Big Hack" controversy
On October 4, 2018, ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' published "The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies", an article by Jordan Robertson and Michael Riley which claimed that China had hacked dozens of technology corporations including
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology co ...
and Apple by placing an extra integrated circuit on a Supermicro server motherboard during manufacturing.
The claims by Bloomberg have been heavily questioned. By 2 p.m. on the day of publication, Apple,
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology co ...
, and Supermicro issued blanket denials, which Bloomberg reported. Within the week, the
United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
In early 2010, the magazine title was restyled ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' (with a lowercase "w") as part of a redesign. During the following years, the bold, eclectic, playful, and memetic face of ''Businessweek'' was cultivated largely by ''Businessweek'' Creative director, Richard Turley then Rob Vargas (from 2014), and Deputy Creative director Tracy Ma (from 2011 through 2016). During her time at ''Businessweek'', Ma worked on over 200 issues. Now she is the Visual Editor at ''The New York Times'' Styles desk.
Additional versions
International editions of ''Businessweek'' were available on newsstands in Europe and Asia until 2005 when publication of regional editions was suspended to help increase foreign readership of customized European and Asian versions of ''Businessweek'' website. However, the same year the Russian edition was launched in collaboration with Rodionov Publishing House.
At the same time, ''Businessweek'' partnered with InfoPro Management, a publishing and market research company based in
Beirut, Lebanon
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of ...
, to produce the Arabic version of the magazine in 22 Arab countries.
In 2011, ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' continued the magazine's international expansion and announced plans to introduce a Polish-language edition called ''Bloomberg Businessweek Polska'', as well as a Chinese edition which was relaunched in November 2011.
''Bloomberg Businessweek'' launched an iPad version of the magazine using Apple's subscription billing service in 2011. The iPad edition was the first to use this subscription method, which allows one to subscribe via an
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...
account. There are over 100,000 subscribers to the iPad edition of ''Businessweek''.
Honors and awards
In the year 2011, ''
Adweek
''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cove ...
'' named ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' as the top business magazine in the country. In 2012, ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' won the general excellence award for general-interest magazines at the
National Magazine Awards
The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
. Also in 2012, ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' editor Josh Tyrangiel was named magazine editor of the year by ''
Ad Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mu ...
''. In 2014, ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' won a
Society of American Business Editors and Writers
The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing is an association of business journalists. Originally founded as the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, in 2018, it changed its name "as part of a broader effort to embrace a ...
Best in Business award for magazines, general excellence.
Name and spelling history
* ''The Business Week'' (name at founding)
* ''Business Week'' and later ''BusinessWeek'' (names under
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referen ...
ownership)
* ''Bloomberg BusinessWeek'' (initial name under
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ...
Notable present and former employees of the magazine include:
* Stephen B. Shepard, former editor-in-chief of ''BusinessWeek'' (1984–2005) and founding dean of the
CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York is a public graduate journalism school located in New York City. One of the 24 institutions comprising the City University of New York, or CUNY, the school opene ...
*
Elliott V. Bell Elliott Valance Bell (September 25, 1902 - January 11, 1983) was a financial writer for ''The New York Times'' who managed the two successful gubernatorial campaigns for his friend, Governor Thomas E. Dewey. He was appointed Superintendent of Banks ...
Thomas E. Dewey
Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...
* Robert Kolker, former investigative journalist and author of '' Hidden Valley Road''
* Brad Stone, former investigative journalist and author of books on tech companies
* Josh Tyrangiel, former editor and deputy managing editor of ''Time'' magazine
*
Malcolm Muir
Malcolm Muir (1885 – January 30, 1979) was a U.S. magazine industrialist.
Biography
Muir was born in New York City. He served as president of McGraw-Hill Publishing from 1928 to 1937. During his tenure as president, he helped create ''BusinessW ...
Virgil Jordan
Virgil Jordan (1892–1965) was an economist and author. He was a past president of the ''National Industrial Conference Board'' and editor with BusinessWeek
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American wee ...
Judith H. Dobrzynski
Judith Helen Dobrzynski (born March 8, 1949) is an American journalist and instructor in journalism.Stephen J. Adler, former editor-in-chief of ''
BusinessWeek
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
Carla Robbins
Carla Robbins is an American journalist and the former deputy editorial page editor of '' The New York Times''. Prior to her career at ''The New York Times'', Robbins worked for ''BusinessWeek'', '' U.S. News & World Report'', and '' The Wall Str ...
, former reporter and deputy
editorial page
An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, such ...
Bloomberg Markets
''Bloomberg Markets'' is a magazine published six times a year by Bloomberg L.P. as part of Bloomberg News. Aimed at global financial professionals, ''Bloomberg Markets'' publishes articles on the people and issues related to global financial mar ...
International Design Excellence Awards
The International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) is an award program previously co-sponsored by ''BusinessWeek'' magazine, and in 2010 ''Fast Company'' magazine and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). According to the IDSA, IDEA "i ...