Bret Devereaux

...wait what is it

It seems to be maybe a computer terminal where you...do...stocks?

Basically correct, although the terminal is the software rather than the machine. The value in it is the real-time feed of market data and electronic trading. And I've only ever seen one in person because my sister once worked for a company whose software had to run on one.

She had one for the purpose of bug-testing. Anyway, they are fantastically expensive ($20k per year per terminal) because the value of being able to interact with the market in real time, rather than at a delay, is huge for financial firms.

I think that's an invention which does provide actual value in the economy (more efficient markets are good). So I don't really begrudge Bloomberg his billions; it wasn't rent-seeking. But a notable invention doesn't entitle one to buy the presidency and it is a disgrace to try

I had no idea this guy's name was in such regular usage as an adjective in any context and I do not care for it!!

Yeah, I love me some capitalism, but the 'hero billionaire' thing has gone too far. No less than Adam Smith pointed out that these men are not saints. "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer...that we expect our dinner, but from regard to their own interest."