When Norman Pearlstine arrived at Bloomberg last year, it was hoped he'd cleanse the toxic management culture of tyrannical boss Matthew Winkler. Instead, Pearlstine promptly hired, a tipster claims, a screaming nightmare. UPDATE: Bloomberg denies.

A Bloomberg press release called Andy Lack a "news legend" upon his arrival in October to head TV, radio and Web operations at the financial news wire. Pearlstine promptly fêted the former Sony Music CEO at a high-profile meal at Le Cirque

Perhaps all the attention went to his head. Lack, one tipster writes, regressed to what we're told is a 10+ year old habit from his NBC News days: complaining about tiny limousines.

That whine would be in terribly bad taste for a man who just laid off 100 of his own people — the first mass firing in company history.

The story, per a tipster:

Upon arriving at Tokyo this weekend, Bloomberg TV honcho Andy Lack threw a shitfit worthy in comparison to his fellow co-news potentate Matt Winkler.

The limousine Lack had his Manhattan-based minions order from the aptly namedImperial Hotel to pick him up at the airport was too small for his liking. Theformer Sony music hatchet man, who fired hundreds of Bloomberg TV staffers thisyear, including a whole division and then some in Tokyo, screamed at the driverwho didn't understand his engrish. Ever cost conscious and environmentallyaware, the Ugry Amelican poo-bah then demanded that another larger, lessfuel-efficient tank be dispatched to the airport to pick him up.

Alas, that big boat didn't satisfy the Get Shorty lookalike. So after thehour-long plus ride into the city, "Limo" Lack stormed into the hoteland demanded that the very aporogetic general manager come out to the foyerentrance with a measuring tape to compare vehicle sizes.

The measuring tape trick apparently dates to Lack's NBC days. Back then, though, he had his own aide he'd send fetch the device, the tipster recalled. The bad economy, it would seem, affects everyone.

UPDATE: A Bloomberg spokesperson calls the story "completely false," adding:

The alleged "incident" you refer to never happened. The only true statement in your report is that Andy Lack visited Tokyo for a few days this week. He arrived from the airport in a standard hotel car and had a very pleasant ride to the hotel. Andy walked to the office every day from the hotel, which is a few blocks away from the Tokyo office. No arguments, disagreements or fuss at all. What you describe may have happened to someone else, but it wasn't a Bloomberg employee or manager.