Former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg speaks with participants prior to a meeting with Earthshot prize winners and finalists at the Glasgow Science Center during the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, November 2, 2021. Bloomberg says he wants to own a big-name newspaper. Alastair Grant/Pool via REUTERS
Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters no approach has been made from Bloomberg's side to Murdoch. A spokesperson for the Washington Post, which Bezos bought in 2013 for $250 million, said it is not for sale. "A Bloomberg acquisition of the is not necessarily just a business decision. Mike B is a policy/political person – mayor, presidential candidate — and such an acquisition would provide a tool to affect Washington public policies," said Eli Noam, professor emeritus at Columbia University's business school.
A Bloomberg L.P. spokesman dismissed the report as speculation and said, "there is nothing to comment on." Dow Jones did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Michael Bloomberg and Bezos did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and a spokesman for Rupert Murdoch declined to comment.
"They will be interested in the alternative choices available to users of financial information services and business journalism ... as well as the impact, if any, on the labor market for financial journalists," said antitrust lawyer Jonathan Rubin.