Jackie Simmons came to Bloomberg almost two decades ago with her sights on working in our Paris bureau. Matt Winkler, Bloomberg editor in chief at the time, was building Bloomberg’s news division and thought that was a pretty good idea. Off to Paris she went.
Over the course of her career in Bloomberg News, Jackie has held several roles in the European bureau, covering everything from luxury goods to investment banking. Recently she moved to London to take on the role of executive editor for Global Business.
In this edition of ‘Ten Minutes With’, Jackie discusses how she has successfully navigated her career at Bloomberg, her most challenging moments, and the future of Bloomberg News.
How did you arrive at Bloomberg?
I was living in New York in the early 1990s, working on the
spot news desk of the Wall Street Journal. I was intrigued by
Bloomberg TV — all that movement — the rolling ticker tape,
news headlines, weather…it caught my attention. So when I
applied for jobs in Paris, where I wanted to anchor myself, I
heard Bloomberg was hiring and applied.
I was beaming when Matt Winkler asked, “When can you
start?” right at the end of my job interview in the New York
office. He walked me through the newsroom, introduced me to
folks, handed me a stack of books (Bloomberg Way and several
style books, among other literature). And that was that. I spent
two weeks in New York before my transfer to Paris. That was
1996. There were only a handful of people in that office and
Bloomberg was expanding pretty significantly in the region.
Why Paris?
I had always had an interest in coming to France because I
learned the language. I went to business school for part of my
last year at university and I spent a lot of time in European
countries. I lived in Belgium over a period of summers doing odd
jobs before becoming an intern at the Wall Street Journal in
Europe.
Tell us about your Bloomberg career
I was hired in Paris to cover consumer goods, notably
luxury goods companies and consumer retail companies. Then it
was M&A, then investment banking, and then more M&A. I ran the
Deals team with a colleague in Europe. Eventually I became
managing editor for Companies and now I’ve got this job,
executive editor for Global Business. That’s a lot of different
roles over 19 years, which is a long time!
How did you last so long in France?
(LAUGH) Thank God for the Eurostar! France isn’t as active
and noisy and bustling as London for the things I’ve covered,
but it is still a very prominent country with a lot of important
global companies, a lot of investment bankers, and a lot of M&A
activity.
It helps being on a beat where you’re breaking news about
some of the biggest global companies, a lot of which are based
on the continent or in France. But I was also able to have the
flexibility to go to London and stay connected to the banking
community and source the community in that market.
What is your new role?
Running Global Business (formerly Companies) from London.
The name “Global Business” captures a lot of what the group’s
goal is: 1) it’s more specific and 2) conveys a sense of mission
to think broadly, as part of industries that are collectively
reacting to similar issues: geopolitical change, economic and
macro shifts, regional politics, etc., as well as their own
issues. It’s just a broader way to capture the coverage.
Running it from London is a bonus: I work across three time
zones (Asia, Europe, Americas), allowing better coordination and
a wider optics on what makes industries tick.
What’s the key to your success as a journalist at Bloomberg?
Remembering that none of us work alone and communication is
the most important thing we can do. This is especially true
given the breadth of resources at our disposal. We produce
scoops and the smartest stories through good communication. That
was the case with our GE-Alstom coverage last year, a story we
owned from start to finish for nearly a year, and which involved
Deals, several bureaus, Company teams, TV, Graphics, etc.
Tell us about a memorable experience during your time with Bloomberg
It was two weeks after I was named managing editor for
Companies in Europe. I went to monitor a panel on corporate CEOs
on the topic of “leaning in.”
I’m not big on public speaking. I get nervous and this was
a room full of, I don’t know, maybe a thousand or so people. It
was telecast and webcast I could see my face in three different
screens (LAUGH). I mean, I think anybody, even people who are
comfortable, might have felt uncomfortable in those
circumstances. But I was really uncomfortable; I just haven’t
done any of that. I’ve done small roundtables or speaking to
groups and the team internally. That’s it.
So, why is this so memorable? Because it was challenging on
so many levels! I was trying to get over my stage fright and it
was coming on the back of a promotion.
My dad watched it on YouTube and he’s like, “Yeah.
You looked really nervous in the beginning.” (LAUGH) Speaking his
mind as usual — thanks Dad!
I kind of calmed down over the course of the discussion and
by the end I was really very proud of myself for doing it. I
maintained my composure. I asked all the questions I wanted. I
think it was a success.
But it was frightening as hell! (LAUGHTER)
What’s your most important story?
Working with various teams to help break BAE-EADS’ attempt
to merge. It was fun to watch the UK media react to us breaking
that. They weren’t happy.
Also working with the Finance team over the years to cover
key personalities, like the Rothschild family or the investment
firm Lazard, various trading scandals at banks, and senior
executive moves.
What’s been your biggest challenge?
The challenge has been in maintaining consistency
throughout our various stages of our growth. From a news
perspective, in spite of all the various permutations and things
we add and do differently, the journalism we produce and the core
of what we do in the sense aiming to be first on breaking news has
been remarkably consistent in recent years. That’s been one of
the most challenging things, but also when it works, the most
rewarding.
Where do you get your news?
I’m on Twitter a lot. I tweet a lot of our stories and I also retweet stories from our competition where I think they’re doing exceptional or insightful work.
I have to read the papers of the competition every day to
see what they’re digging into. I like a physical newspaper. I
read The New York Times a lot online. I also like watching news
television.
What will you miss most about Paris?
The people in Paris overall. Some of the people in my group
are really just fantastic. I hope I can promote them even more and
help them in a different way.
It’s Paris. You know, the Eiffel Tower. (LAUGH) The
relative calmness compared to London. Speaking French. I’ll miss
that. I mean, I’ll miss a lot of things. But it’s not far away.
Are you excited for London?
Outside of Bloomberg I’m looking forward to taking
advantage of London’s alternative culture. You know, it’s much
more culturally diverse. There’s more of an international feel
that you don’t really get on the continent. Certainly not in
Paris.
What’s the future of Bloomberg News?
The potential of this place is phenomenal. And — you know,
I would think and hope that the direction we’re moving is to
capture a lot of that potential. We can do that through
collaboration. We should talk across groups and regions more —
it’s really going to come from cross-platform collaboration and
teamwork.
I’m a little competitive. We need to get behind the scenes
and break exclusives and knock everyone out of the water.
-Monica Bertran