Bloomberg & The FT: smarter than you think

The New York Times ran a speculative story about Michael Bloomberg weighing a bid for The Financial Times. Some have questioned the move, the old joke about football teams could equally be applied to newspapers:

Q:How do you become a millionaire with a football team?

A: Start with with a billion and then buy a professional football club

However the FT is a rare breed of newspaper. Like the Wall Street Journal and The Economist, it is as much a professional tool as a source of news. You demonstrate your professionalism with the pink paper peaking out of your holdall or under your arm. The content helps professionals keep abreast of things across a range of industries.

In addition, the FT has made smart moves on the road to digital. It is going through a management reshuffle at the moment and the closure of FT Deutschland may make it look as if the paper is on the back foot, but it is in ruder health than would be apparent and makes more sense for Bloomberg than the purchase the other year of BusinessWeek.

Whether or not the deal is seriously being considered it deserved more consideration than many would give it credit for.