Business Wire facts for kids

Business Wire is a company that sends out full-text press 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. It is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

History

Business Wire was founded in 1961 by Lorry I. Lokey. It started by sending releases to 16 media outlets in California. Business Wire created its website in May 1995. 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.

Business Wire's first wholly owned European operation launched in 2001, with the opening of an office in London. 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 planning for the organization 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 language, making the website available in seven languages. On January 17, 2006, Berkshire Hathaway noted that it was purchasing Business Wire for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition was completed on March 1, 2006.

In 2008, Business Wire partnered with ImpreMedia to launch LatinoWire, a news-distribution service that sends out brand content to Hispanic websites, media outlets, journalists and bloggers. 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.

On September 23, 2013, Business Wire noted an exclusive distribution partnership with VentureBeat. On November 3, 2013, Business Wire opened its 32nd office in Hong Kong.

In January 2014, Business Wire launched a new news and content distribution enhancement service.

In April 2017, its Chief Executive Officer and President, Cathy Baron Tamraz retired and was replaced by long-time CFO Geff Scott.

Related pages

• List of press release agencies

See also

In Spanish: Business Wire para niños