O'Brien is the executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion, a platform that provides 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. O'Brien edited a 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 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service 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 (ISBN0-8129-2807-5) and 2005's TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald (ISBN978-1422366189).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 in 2006. In 2009, the suit was dismissed by a New Jersey judge.[1] Trump appealed, but the dismissal was upheld by an appeals court in 2011.[2] A novel by O'Brien, The Lincoln Conspiracy (ISBN978-0-345-49677-5), was published in 2012.