Former Time editor Pearlstine leaves Carlyle for Bloomberg — What next?

Norman Pearlstine, the former editor in chief of Time Inc., has left the politically connected buyout firm Carlyle after less than two years, and joined the financial media company, Bloomberg.

The departure comes at a time when Carlyle is going through serious turmoil, with prominent partner Bob Grady stepping into a lesser role. The firm recently lost two other partners and replaced them with others.

In March, lenders seized the assets of one of its subsidiaries Carlyle Capital, sending it into insolvency. That’s a big embarrassment for the firm that was once vilified by Michael Moore in his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 for its extensive power.

Pearlstine will be chief content officer of the Bloomberg group, apparently a newly created job mandated with finding “growth opportunities.”

But here’s another interpretation of the move: We’re hearing Bloomberg is up for sale. Could it mean that Carlyle might be a buyer? If you were Carlyle, you’d put someone on the inside first, right?

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