Ex-mayor Bloomberg takes charge again at Bloomberg: 'God reappears' says CEO

The Times said Bloomberg told close confidants and senior executives late on Wednesday that Daniel L. Doctoroff, chief executive of the company and a longtime friend, would leave the company at the end of the year and that he would take over.

Doctoroff told the Times: “Mike is kind of like God at the company. He created the universe. He issued the Ten Commandments and then he disappeared. And then he came back. You have to understand that when God comes back, things are going to be different. When God reappeared, people defer.”

For years, Bloomberg had insisted that he had no intention of returning full time to the company he founded.

When he left politics, Mr. Bloomberg, 72, was expected to concentrate on giving away his $32.8 billion fortune. “most likely spending a few hours a day working from his new desk on the fifth floor,” at Bloomberg’s offices, according to a memo Doctoroff sent employees in January.

But in recent months, said the NYT, Bloomberg — who still owns 88 percent of the company — has become an increasing presence at Bloomberg’s HQ, taking a hands-on role in meetings and strategy decisions.

Frustrated, Doctoroff, 56, a former deputy mayor of New York and private equity executive, told Bloomberg about two weeks ago that he planned to resign. Bloomberg urged him to stay and remain chief executive, but Mr. Doctoroff said no..

Doctoroff, who remains a friend of Bloomberg will join the board of Bloomberg’s foundation.

He explained his decision to step down: “When Mike decided he wanted to spend some time at the company, and then spent more time, obviously things changed.” He added, “It isn’t the job I had for the past six years. It’s his — he wants to be involved. He doesn’t want to consult with me on everything. I get that.”

“This wasn’t the plan,” said Bloomberg, sitting next to Mr. Doctoroff on Wednesday at a coffee shop, the Times reported. “It was his idea. If it was up to me, he would have stayed.”

Bloomberg said “he fell in love again with the company” . He said that after r a couple of weeks on holiday in January and working on his philanthropy, he realized that he felt most excited by his work at Bloomberg L.P.

He does not plan to take the title of chief — “I hate titles,” he said — he intended to run the company for the foreseeable future.

Doctoroff joined Bloomberg L.P in September 2008. Under him the company’s revenue has jumped to more than $9 billion, from $5.4 billion.

Both men insisted that there was no fight over leadership. “The press always wants to write about a battle,” Bloomberg said. “There was not a battle.”