''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 in September 1929.
Bloomberg Businessweek business magazines are located in the
Bloomberg Tower, 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, 153
East 53rd Street between Lexington and
Third Avenue, 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, o ...
MBA programs in 1988.
Stephen B. Shepard
Stephen B. Shepard (born July 30, 1939) is an American business journalist and academic who served as editor-in-chief of ''BusinessWeek'' magazine and was the founding dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.
Born and raised in New York Ci ...
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. Under Shepard, ''Businessweek''s readership grew to more than six million in the late 1980s. He was succeeded by
Stephen J. Adler
Stephen J. Adler (born 1955) is an American journalist. He was editor-in-chief of Reuters from 2011 to 2021.
Early life
Stephen Adler was born in 1955. His father, Norman, was a high school English department chairman, and his mother, Mildred, was ...
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. 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
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
had hacked dozens of technology corporations including
Amazon and
Apple by placing an extra integrated circuit on a
Supermicro
Super Micro Computer, Inc., dba Supermicro, is an information technology company based in San Jose, California. It has manufacturing operations in the Silicon Valley, the Netherlands and at its Science and Technology Park in Taiwan. Founded on ...
server motherboard during manufacturing.
The claims by Bloomberg have been heavily questioned. By 2 p.m. on the day of publication,
Apple,
Amazon, and
Supermicro
Super Micro Computer, Inc., dba Supermicro, is an information technology company based in San Jose, California. It has manufacturing operations in the Silicon Valley, the Netherlands and at its Science and Technology Park in Taiwan. Founded on ...
issued blanket denials, which Bloomberg reported. Within the week, the
United States Department of Homeland Security stated that it saw no reason to question those refutations. The
National Security Agency and
Government Communications Headquarters and
NCSC also denied the article's claims.
Redesign
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 mul ...
account. There are over 100,000 subscribers to the iPad edition of ''Businessweek''.
Honors and awards
In the year 2011, ''
Adweek '' 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. Also in 2012, ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' editor Josh Tyrangiel was named magazine editor of the year by ''
Ad Age''. In 2014, ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' won a
Society of American Business Editors and Writers 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 referenc ...
ownership)
* ''Bloomberg BusinessWeek'' (initial name under
Bloomberg ownership)
* ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' (current name; 2010–present)
Employees
Notable present and former employees of the magazine include:
*
Stephen B. Shepard
Stephen B. Shepard (born July 30, 1939) is an American business journalist and academic who served as editor-in-chief of ''BusinessWeek'' magazine and was the founding dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.
Born and raised in New York Ci ...
, former editor-in-chief of ''BusinessWeek'' (1984–2005) and founding dean of the
CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
*
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 ...
, former publisher and editor-in-chief of ''BusinessWeek'' and
Superintendent of Banks for the State of New York, advisor to
Thomas E. Dewey
*
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, founder of the magazine, president of
McGraw-Hill Publishing (1928–1937)
*
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. He had liberal viewpoints.
Bibliography
* ''Freedom in America'' (with Henry Hazlitt ...
, former editor and past president of
The Conference Board
*
Judith H. Dobrzynski, former senior editor
*
Stephen J. Adler
Stephen J. Adler (born 1955) is an American journalist. He was editor-in-chief of Reuters from 2011 to 2021.
Early life
Stephen Adler was born in 1955. His father, Norman, was a high school English department chairman, and his mother, Mildred, was ...
, former editor-in-chief of ''
BusinessWeek'' (2005–2009),
editor-in-chief of
Reuters (2011–2021)
*
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 Stree ...
, former reporter and deputy
editorial page editor of ''
The New York Times'' (2007–2012)
See also
*
Bloomberg Markets
*
Bloomberg News
*
International Design Excellence Awards
*
List of United States magazines
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Businessweek
2009 mergers and acquisitions
Business magazines published in the United States
Weekly magazines published in the United States
Bloomberg L.P.
Magazines established in 1929
Magazines published in New York City