Everyone gets the boot

Steve Jobs was pushed out of Apple in 1985. Oprah Winfrey was fired as a Baltimore anchor for being 'unfit'. Thomas Edison lost several jobs while inventing the modern world.

Fifteen years, then out

Bloomberg joined Salomon Brothers as a clerk on $9,000 a year and climbed to partner. About 44 years ago, Phibro Corporation bought the firm and he was let go.

The next morning

He did not take time off. The day after the layoff he started Innovative Market Solutions, cofounding it in 1981 with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan and Charles Zegar.

Severance as seed money

His $10 million payout from Salomon funded the company that became Bloomberg LLC, home of the terminal and Bloomberg News. He still owns 88% of a business earning close to $15 billion a year.

Every setback is an opportunity

He is blunt about the causal chain: no firing, no company, no City Hall, no foundation. The worst day of his career bought him the other three.

“If I hadn't gotten fired, I might never have started Bloomberg, never run for mayor.”

Don't dwell on it

He admits the firing stung after 15 years at a place he loved. His rule is to get up, dust yourself off and stop replaying a past you cannot edit.

“If you never fail, you're not setting your sights high enough. Life is too short to stick to the bunny slope.”

Plans have limits

He expected to spend his whole career at Salomon. The lesson was that planning is fine until it delays doing, because the sure thing can flip overnight.

“It's ok to make plans, but never let planning get in the way of doing.”

Loyalty runs both ways

Having given 15 years himself, he rewards tenure with commemorative pylons for 10, 20 and 30 years. His 26,000 staff average 7.8 years, against a 3.9-year national norm.

No walls, no corner office

Offices in nearly 70 countries have no private rooms and identical desks for everyone, by design. He thinks people quit when they feel unheard, especially the young ones.

“That kind of longevity is increasingly rare in business.”