Bloomberg is not used to apologising. Since Michael Bloomberg sold his first data terminal in 1982, its obsessive focus on cutting-edge technology and industry-beating customer service has made it a market leader in a financial data industry once dominated by older firms such as Reuters and Dow Jones.

Its news operation has grown to 2,400 journalists at a time when many longer-established newsrooms have been slashing staff; winning prizes and moving markets with its precise and seemingly transparent style of journalism, much of its output is informed by the data its terminals produce.

The strength of Bloomberg News, bolstered by sales of $20,000-a-year terminals to more than 315,000 subscribers, has made it a model for some commentators as the news industry searches for sustainable business models other than a traditional reliance on advertising.