In 1981, Michael Bloomberg founded Innovative Market Systems (IMS) after leaving Salomon Brothers. He was joined by partners Thomas Secunda, Duncan Macmillan, and Charles Zegar. The company aimed to provide specialized financial data and analytical tools directly to traders' desks.
The first product, the Market Master terminal, featured a monochrome CRT monitor and a custom keyboard. It initially provided data on US government bonds and calculation tools. In 1982, Merrill Lynch became the first client, investing $30 million for a 30% stake and five years of exclusivity.
Merrill Lynch relinquished its exclusivity in 1984, and the company was later renamed Bloomberg LP. The terminal evolved to include historical data, real-time analytics, and a proprietary closed network. By 1990, the company launched its own news service to reduce reliance on external providers.
The hardware underwent several iterations, including the addition of a trackball in 1990 and multimedia support in 1992. By 1996, keyboards supported 23 languages, and in the early 2000s, biometric fingerprint scanners were integrated for user authentication.
