The view from the office. 

Claire Atkinson took me to dinner at the Elysian Cafe on Washington Street in Hoboken.

Claire, a veteran media journalist, is focused on writing a biography about Rupert Murdoch. She divides her time between Hoboken and Nice, in the south of France.

She told me a story about my former boss, Michael Bloomberg, which I found fascinating.

Claire said she was chatting with Mike at the annual meeting of moguls in Sun Valley a decade ago when she was the media reporter for the New York Post. She asked him about the economic landscape for newspapers.

She said Mike knew the competitive strengths for major publications down to the ground. He had a firm grasp of numbers ranging from revenue to circulation and, in most cases, knew the publishers personally.

It surprised me because I worked at Bloomberg LP for three decades and sat in meetings in which Mike would show little outward interest in the print media in general and newspapers in particular. He famously built a brand, Bloomberg News, that was digital, not print.

And yet… here was Claire telling me that he knew a lot about the terrain. 

I realized that not being interested in owning a newspaper didn’t mean he wasn’t interested in the dynamics of the newspaper business. Especially, in so far as it impacted his business. 

The best entrepreneurs — podcaster David Senra argues — are voracious consumers of information. They read. They study history. They go out of their way to meet people. All to learn as much as possible about all their industry.

Claire also told me some amazing stories about Murdoch, but I’ll let her share them with you when her book comes out. Or subscribe to her Substack, called The Media Mix. 

Reach out to her via LinkedIn if you have a great story about Rupert or are interested in hearing more about her project. DM me if you want a warm introduction.