Feature
A Walk With Cory Johnson
text by SHINMIN LI
pHotograpHy by MIke aNderSoN
On a sunny Thursday morning with clear blue skies, I met
Cory Johnson in front of the Bloomberg office at Pier 3 on The
Embarcadero. He had on a crisp blue checked Sports coat, with
a satin origami handkerchief tucked into his breast pocket. His
hair was perfectly in place. I saw a light coat of powder that
tamed the shine on his forehead and nose. Cory was in between
shoots in his role as editor-at-large of Bloomberg TV. Despite
the gentlemen’s club jacket and his towering six foot five frame,
Cory has the energy of a high school teenager trying out for the
basketball team.
When we initially planned this interview, I had imagined that
it would be accompanied by a couple shots of espresso and perhaps in a café with views of the bay. To my pleasant surprise I was
greeted with, “Let’s walk.” In fact, Cory often plucks CEOs, and
many others from intense meetings, out of the office to join his
walking meetings. He believes that the change of scenery and
fresh air, breaks people of their rehearsed pitches and allows a
more natural discussion.
Before I was able to start asking some of the questions I had
prepared, Cory said, “Tell me something about you.” He listened
with trained ears and responded with appropriate feedback. He’s
a good listener.
Walking along the water, I asked Cory about his start in
journalism. The philosophy of his work principles was largely
shaped by his mentors. He has a few, but one that stands out
is Gil Rogan. More than anything in the world, the young Cory
wanted to write for a magazine. Gil was the editor at Time inc.
when Cory worked on FYI, the company’s in-house biweekly
newsletter. Cory said that Gil was “loving and harsh, and a brilliant writer”. He recalled entering into Gil’s office, and seeing
the many coffee cups on his desk filled with freshly sharpened
pencils. As Gil made corrections to the articles or notes presented to him, he stabbed into the paper with such force that
the tips of pencils would snap. Without breaking his stride, Gil
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would grab another pencil and toss the broken one to the floor.
Gil was a man who disliked numbers ending in zeros, meaning
that if you reported to him that 30,000 people attended a game
in Yankee Stadium, he would scream, “It would be a MIRACLE if
there were exactly 30,000 attendees at a stadium!” Gil insisted
on precise details, not estimates. From Gil, Cory learned to
develop an intense demand for details. He learned to avoid
brushing over the narratives. He does not accept a smoothed
number as a fact. He learned how to ask the questions that rendered the often overlooked truths. This is the foundation to his
investigative journalism.
We made a left turn off The Embarcadero and onto Francisco
Street. We ascended steep winding steps that led to Grant Avenue.
Cory talked with ease. His breathing and speech cadence were
completely unaffected by the steps. He began to explain about
how his career led to fraud investigation. With a penchant for
spy novels, Cory spent much of his career digging up the hidden
stories behind neglected equities, solid but unloved companies
and, conversely, stocks undeserving of love—what he calls the
three F’s: fakes, frauds, and failing businesses.
Spending so many years training his eyes to find fraud and
corruption I asked if he sees the world through cynical eyes. “Not
cynical,” he told me, “critical.” The former leader of the NSA
passed a bit of advice from his father to Cory, “When you think
you see a conspiracy, don’t dismiss the possibility of incompetence.” But Cory’s cautious mind goes deeper than that. His
approach to conspiracies is,”Before you dismiss an irregularity as incompetence, explore every possibility of conspiracy.
Doubting is thinking.”
We circled our way to Washington Square Park. Groups of
women were dancing with fans to Chinese music. Dogs were
leaping for Frisbees. I asked Cory if he has noticed cultural differences between San Francisco and New York, where he is from
originally. Cory said that San Francisco has been defined for the