Robert M. Bleiberg (June 21, 1924 – November 3, 1997) was an American editor, publisher and writer. He was the long-time editor, publisher and editorial director of ''Barron's''.

Biography

Bleiberg was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in 1924 and graduated from

Townsend Harris High School Townsend Harris High School (THHS; often also shortened to Townsend Harris or simply Townsend) is a public high school for the humanities in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located on the campus of Queens College, a public college p ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1943. He also received a master's degree in business from

New York University Stern School of Business The Leonard N. Stern School of Business (also NYU Stern, Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. Founded as the School of Commerce, Accounts ...

. He joined ''Barron's'' in 1946 as associate editor after serving in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in World War II and being wounded in

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

. In 1954. he became editor of the newspaper and held the position through 1981. In 1980 he was named vice president of the Dow Jones magazine group, and in 1982 editorial director and publisher of ''Barron's.'' Bleiberg remained publisher until 1989, and was editorial director from 1982 until he retired in 1991''.'' He was credited for increasing the circulation of the newspaper by fivefold and wrote a weekly column, where he expressed staunchly pro-

free-market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

views and harsh criticisms against government intervention. Bleiberg received an honorary doctorate from

Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private, Conservatism in the United States, conservative, Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1844 by members of the Free Will Baptists. Women were admi ...

, where he was also a contributor to the campus publication ''

Imprimis ''Imprimis'' is the monthly speech digest of Hillsdale College, published by the Center for Constructive Alternatives. Salon.com described it as "the most influential conservative publication you've never heard of." Its name is Latin, meaning ...

''. In 1985, Bleiberg received the Elliott V. Bell Award by the New York Financial Writers Association. He was also named by the TJFR Group and MasterCard International as one of the 20th century's 100 best business journalists in 1999. Bleiberg died of leukemia on November 3, 1997, at New York Hospital in

. He was called "The Great Contrarian" in his obituary by ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

''.

References

1924 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American journalists American publishers (people) American magazine editors Writers from Brooklyn American newspaper publishers (people) Dow Jones & Company people Columbia College (New York) alumni American financial writers American business writers American libertarians Deaths from leukemia in New York (state) {{US-editor-stub Townsend Harris High School alumni New York University Stern School of Business alumni