Business Wire
 | |
| wholly owned subsidiary | |
| Headquarters |
101 California Street San Francisco |
| Parent | Berkshire Hathaway |
Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, is a company that disseminates full-text news releases from thousands of companies and organizations worldwide to news media, financial markets, disclosure systems, investors, information web sites, databases, bloggers, social networks and other audiences. Business Wire has 32 offices worldwide to securely meet the varying needs of communications professionals and news consumers.
The company distributes news via its own patented electronic network, NX, developed by its in-house tech team using XML/NewsML. It also has carriage agreements with major news agencies, including the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg, Dow Jones, Reuters, Thomson One, and some 60 regional news agencies to deliver content directly into their newsroom editorial systems. It was the first service of its type to put its clients' news online, launching the company's website in May 1995.
Business Wire provides direct news and/or multimedia content to thousands of websites including Yahoo! Finance. It offers preset and fully customized RSS news feeds for journalists and bloggers at no charge.
Working with stock markets and regulatory authorities, Business Wire is an authorized disclosure vehicle in the United States and Canada (with news networks, EDGAR filings and SEDAR filings), the UK (with Financial Services Authority-sanctioned services), France (with Autorité des Marchés Financiers-sanctioned services) and other European markets including Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. In 2007, Business Wire established a pan-European disclosure service designed around the European Union's Transparency Obligations Directive (TOD) requirements. In addition to fulfilling financial disclosure requirements, this posts full-text news releases directly into major professional and individual investor systems. Journalists can set up personal web, RSS and email news feeds based on their specific beat criteria.
History
Business Wire was founded on October 2, 1961, by Lorry I. Lokey. Cathy Baron Tamraz became CEO and president on December 16, 2005.
In 2000, Business Wire was the first commercial newswire to end the practice of distributing news to financial outlets 15-minutes before anyone else, to provide immediate, equal access to company information as noted by Reg FD.[1]
Business Wire's first wholly owned European operation launched in 2001, with the opening of an office in London.[2] On June 1, 2005, Business Wire entered the German Ad-Hoc market with a disclosure network for companies with primary or secondary listings on the Deutsche Boerse. The service was established in compliance with BaFin, Germany's national securities regulator. On September 15, 2005, Business Wire established Regulatory Disclosure networks in France, Sweden, Switzerland and Luxembourg. The move came in anticipation of the anticipated implementation of the EU's Transparency Obligations Directive (TOD). On January 1, 2007, Autorité des marchés financiers, the French Financial Markets Regulator, approved Business Wire to operate as a Regulatory Disclosure Service in France.
On January 10, 2005, Business Wire established an Asian hub with the opening of its Tokyo, Japan bureau, and later that year added Japanese, making the site available in seven languages.
On January 17, 2006, Berkshire Hathaway announced that it was purchasing Business Wire for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition was completed on March 1, 2006.[3]
On December 14, 2007, Phyllis Dantuono and Gregg Castano were promoted to Business Wire co-chief operating officers. In 2009, Castano was named President and Dantuono sole COO.[4]
In 2008, Business Wire partnered with ImpreMedia to launch LatinoWire, a news distribution service that distributes brand content to Hispanic websites, media outlets, journalists and bloggers.[5]
In 2011, Business Wire received a patent for the technological process of optimizing and distributing press releases to maximize their ability to be found and tracked in leading search engines.[6]
On September 23, 2013, Business Wire announced that it had named Serena Ehrlich head of social and emerging media.[7] In addition, Business Wire announces exclusive distribution partnership with VentureBeat [8]
On November 3, 2013, Business Wire opened its 32nd office in Hong Kong.[9]
In January 2014, Business Wire launched a new news and content distribution enhancement service.[10]
References
- ↑ "15 minutes are up at Business Wire". PR Week. September 25, 2000.
- ↑ "Business Wire to launch own Euro office in London". PR Week. February 23, 2001.
- ↑ "Berkshire Hathaway Completes Acquisition of Business Wire". Business Wire.
- ↑ "Business Wire Names Gregg Castano President". MediaBistro.
- ↑ "Business Wire Launches 'LatinoWire' In Venture With ImpreMedia". Editor and Publisher.
- ↑ "Warren Buffet's Business Wire Awarded Patent for Press Release SEO". SearchEngineLand.
- ↑ "Buffett Unit Business Wire Hires Ehrlich for Social Media". Bloomberg.
- ↑ "Business Wire Comes on as New Partner". VentureBeat.
- ↑ "PSA: Business Wire Announces Opening of Hong Kong Full-Service Office". BulldogReporter.
- ↑ "PSA: Business Wire Launches Interactive News Services". PRWeek.
