Timothy L. O'Brien


Timothy L. O'Brien is an American journalist, author and television commentator.

Early life and education

Born in Illinois, O'Brien is a graduate of Loyola Academy and Georgetown University, where he studied literature. He has three master's degrees from Columbia University, in history, journalism, and business.

Journalism career

O'Brien is the executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion, commentary about business, politics, and foreign affairs. O'Brien was a reporter for The New York Times before becoming editor of the paper's Sunday Business section in 2006. He was previously the executive editor of The Huffington Post and has been a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal and Talk Magazine. O'Brien edited multi-part series on wounded war veterans that won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 2012. He is also a recipient of a Loeb Award for Distinguished Business Journalism. He helped oversee a team of New York Times reporters that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for its coverage of the 2008 financial crisis. O'Brien is also a contributing, on-air analyst with NBC/MSNBC where he frequently appears to discuss politics and national affairs.

Books

O'Brien has written two nonfiction books: 1998's Bad Bet: The Inside Story of the Glamour, Glitz, and Danger of America's Gambling Industry and 2005's . His novel, The Lincoln Conspiracy, was published in 2012. TrumpNation is notable for its claim that celebrity real estate mogul Donald Trump was worth no more than US$250 million. Trump, who claimed at the time to be a billionaire and who has built a reputation upon his wealth, filed suit against O'Brien and Warner Books on January 23, 2006. On July 15, 2009, the suit was dismissed by a New Jersey judge. Trump appealed, but the dismissal was upheld by an appeals court on September 7, 2011.

Political career

In 2020 O'Brien was hired as a senior adviser to Michael Bloomberg's Democratic Party primaries campaign for the 2020 United States presidential election.