Michael Bloomberg takes back the reins at Bloomberg, and heads are rolling. This week, Joshua Topolsky, the co-founder of the Verge, became the most recent to get it in the neck, after joining Bloomberg in January:
Earlier this year, after Michael Bloomberg reasserted control over the company he founded and began to scrutinize its online operations, he suggested in a meeting that perhaps Bloomberg — which makes the overwhelming majority of its money from desk terminals that provide financial data — did not need to have a website.
Joshua Topolsky, the founder of a prominent technology website who had been hired to oversee a glossy reintroduction of Bloomberg’s web properties, responded sarcastically, making fun of the suggestion, according to three people with knowledge of the exchange, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Mr. Bloomberg, who often challenges subordinates with provocative questions, has grown accustomed to deference, the people said. He was furious, and his relationship with Mr. Topolsky subsequently deteriorated to the point that both decided it was better if Mr. Topolsky left.
Apparently, Bloomberg and his new right hand, John Micklethwait, the former editor of The Economist who was hired as editor in chief when Mr. Bloomberg’s returned. These two are pushing the website toward a more traditional design.
I bet Topolsky will head off and do something cool, while Bloomberg and Micklethwait’s efforts will amount to little. Maybe Hizzoner will just shut the website down.
from Stowe Boyd http://stoweboyd.com/post/123806298902
