The Hustler's Digest StaffMike Bloomberg, a successful businessman, politician, and philanthropist is the world’s top source of information on business and finance. Read this article to know all you need to know about Mike Bloomberg.
Michael Rubens Bloomberg, an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author, was born on February 14, 1942. He is the co-founder, CEO, and the main owner of Bloomberg L.P. and ran for the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2020 election while serving as mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013.
Bloomberg is the world’s top source for information on business and finance. Which connects the world’s decision-makers to reliable information about the financial markets through the power of technology, enabling them to take quicker, more informed decisions. Read this article to know everything you need to know about Mike Bloomberg.
Who is Mike Bloomberg?
Michael Rubens Bloomberg, a businessman and three-term mayor of New York City, was born on February 14, 1942. He is recognized as a global leader in the fields of climate change, public health, education, and other pressing issues affecting both the United States and the rest of the world. He is the co-founder, CEO, and the main owner of Bloomberg L.P. Moreover, he ran for the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2020 election while serving as mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013.
Bloomberg attended both Harvard Business School and Johns Hopkins University after growing up in Medford, Massachusetts. Before founding his own business in 1981, he started his career at the financial brokerage Salomon Brothers. This business, Bloomberg L.P., is a media, software, and financial information company best known for its Bloomberg Terminal. The following twenty years were spent by Bloomberg as its chairman and CEO. With an estimated net worth of US$82 billion as of June 2022, Forbes listed him as the sixteenth-richest person in the world, and he was ranked 14th in the Forbes 400 with a net worth of $55 billion. Bloomberg has donated $8.2 billion to philanthropic causes since taking the pledge.
Mayor of New York City
Bloomberg served on the boards of prestigious cultural organizations while running his business, including the Jewish Museum, the Central Park Conservancy, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts. He also gave $100 million to Johns Hopkins University. However, he was infamous for his despotic outbursts in the Bloomberg headquarters, where he assaulted staff members and turned on anyone who dared to leave his company. Being fiercely competitive, lifelong Democrat Bloomberg ran as a Republican in the 2001 contest for mayor of New York City. Bloomberg, whose stated net wealth at the time was over $4.5 billion, spent more than $68 million of his own money on his mayoral campaign.
Themes from Bloomberg’s campaign centered on matters that were very important to New Yorkers, including housing, education, and traffic and transportation improvements. The support of departing New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, whose leadership following the September 11 attacks was unanimously praised, was what helped him the most. Just a few weeks prior to the election on November 6, Bloomberg was in a serious polling deficit. The Smoke-Free Air Act of 2002, a contentious city-wide smoking ban, was swiftly passed with his support. He also immediately oversaw redevelopment initiatives, boosted tourism, and eliminated the budget deficit.
When Bloomberg was chosen for a second term as mayor in 2005, he pushed for a ban on trans fats in food, explored environmental initiatives including charging for congestion during rush hours and put forth a 25-year plan for enhancing the city’s infrastructure. In addition to giving talks on policy issues across the nation and leaving the Republican Party in 2007, Bloomberg increased his national profile, which stoked rumors that he would run for president of the United States as an independent in 2008. Instead, he declared in October 2008 that, if the term-limit statute were changed, he would run for reelection as mayor. The law was changed by the New York City Council a few weeks later to permit three consecutive terms. Michael Bloomberg was re-elected in November 2009.
Bloomberg implemented a contentious public health campaign during his third term, expanding tobacco bans and attempting to ban the sale of large-size sugary drinks, which was later ruled unconstitutional by a judge in July 2013. The escalating debate over the so-called “stop-and-frisk” policy of the New York Police Department, which permitted officers to detain, question, and search suspects without a warrant, had an impact on Bloomberg’s final term as well. Bloomberg defended the practice as an essential component of crime control, despite widespread criticism that it unjustly targets minorities. When Bloomberg’s final term expired in 2013, Bill de Blasio took over.
Later activities and presidential run
Following his resignation, Bloomberg went back to running the media and financial data company that bears his name, Bloomberg LP. In 2017, he co-authored Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet with Carl Pope, continuing his involvement in environmental concerns. Bloomberg introduced the American Cities Climate Challenge in 2018, a $70 million program to support 20 cities in their efforts to combat climate change.
Therefore, the idea was introduced a year after Republican President Donald Trump declared that the United States would leave the Paris Climate Agreement. Bloomberg, an outspoken Trump critic, promised to spend at least $80 million to defeat Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections. He re-registered as a Democrat that year, fueling rumors that he would seek the presidency in 2020. Although Bloomberg declared in March 2019 that he would not run for president, he formally entered the contest in November. Despite spending more than $500 million, he had trouble winning over voters, particularly after his dismal showings in two debates. He declared his support for Joe Biden and abandoned his campaign in March 2020.
Early life and Bloomberg LP
His mother worked as a secretary, and his father, a Polish immigrant, was a bookkeeper. He attended Harvard University after completing his engineering degree at Johns Hopkins University, where he also began working as an entry-level employee for the financial house Salomon Brothers. He rose to the position of partner and oversaw the firm’s block trading activities within 15 years. After Salomon was acquired by another company in 1981, he lost his position and used the $10 million partnership buyout from Bloomberg to start Innovative Market Systems, a company that provides financial data services, in 1982. The newly renamed Bloomberg LP has risen to the top of the financial data services world twenty years later. The Bloomberg computer terminal, a comprehensive source of financial news and information, was essential to the company’s success. The Bloomberg Business News wire service, the New York City news radio station WBBR, and Bloomberg Television were among the company’s further interests.
Family and relationships
Susan Elizabeth Barbara Brown, a British citizen from Yorkshire, England, and Bloomberg’s wife were wed in 1975. They have two daughters: 1979-born Emma and 1983-born Georgina, who was profiled in the 2003 documentary Born Rich about the offspring of the super-rich. Despite their 1993 divorce, Bloomberg has stated that Brown is still his “best buddy.” Diana Taylor, a former New York State banking superintendent, and Bloomberg have been living together since 2000.
Since February 2002, Marjorie Tiven, the younger sister of Michael Bloomberg, has served as a commissioner on the New York City Commission for the United Nations, Consular Corps, and Protocol.
Religion
Bloomberg is currently fairly secular, only going to synagogue on the High Holidays and for a Passover Seder with his sister, Marjorie Tiven, despite attending Hebrew school, having a bar mitzvah, and growing up in a home with a kosher kitchen. His daughters didn’t celebrate their bat mitzvahs.
Unveiling the Lifestyle and Public Persona of Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg’s public persona has been marred by comments deemed disrespectful and sexist, stemming from his professional journey. In his 1997 autobiography, he recounted experiences of sexual harassment while on Wall Street in the 1960s and 1970s, including remarks such as, “every city has a girlfriend. I’d do her,” which referred to female colleagues. Bloomberg’s team later expressed regret for these remarks, acknowledging their disrespectfulness.
During his mayoral tenure, Bloomberg opted to reside in his personal Manhattan abode rather than the traditional Gracie Mansion. He maintained an extensive global real estate portfolio, boasting 13 properties across different nations, including a notable $20 million Georgian mansion in Southampton, New York, and the historic former residence of author George Eliot in London’s Chelsea.
Despite claims of regularly utilizing the New York City subway during his mayorship, Bloomberg was often observed being chauffeured by NYPD SUVs to avoid subway transfers. He did, however, partake in ceremonial subway rides to commemorate milestones like the opening of the 34th Street station and supported infrastructure projects like the Second Avenue Subway and the 7 Subway Extension.
Bloomberg’s media presence extended beyond politics, with cameo appearances in films like “The Adjustment Bureau” and “New Year’s Eve,” as well as television shows like “30 Rock” and “Law & Order” during his mayoral tenure.
In his private life, Bloomberg indulged in aviation, owning a fleet of six aircraft, including a Pilatus PC-24 and three Dassault Falcon 900s, along with two helicopters—an AW109 and an Airbus model. His childhood hobbies included Morse code operation and amateur radio building, showcasing his diverse interests from an early age.
Awards and honors
Tufts University, Bard College, Rockefeller University, the University of Pennsylvania, Fordham University, Williams College, Harvard University, the University of Michigan, Villanova University, and Washington University in St. Louis have all awarded honorary degrees to Bloomberg. Bloomberg delivered the baccalaureate address at Princeton University in 2011.
Bloomberg gave the graduating address at his alma school, Johns Hopkins University, on May 27, 2010. Additionally, he was asked to speak as a guest speaker for the Johns Hopkins Class of 2020 and did so. Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and Commencement speaker, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and senior class president Pavan Patel were am0on0g0 0t0h0e0 0other famous guests that spoke during the online event.
Bloomberg has won several awards, including the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Outstanding Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official from the Jefferson Awards Foundation, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Ehud Barak, the Barnard Medal of Distinction from Barnard College, the Leadership for Healthy Communities Leadership Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Yale School of Management’s Award for Distinguished Leadership in Global Capital Markets. In 2013, he received the annual Genesis Prize for Jewish values first prize. He gave the $1 million award to the Genesis Generation Challenge, an international contest that seeks young people’s bold plans to make the world a better place.
In the 2007 and 2008 Time 100, Bloomberg was ranked as the 39th most influential person in the world. He was listed as number seven on Vanity Fair’s 2010 list of the 100 most influential people.
As a result of his “prodigious entrepreneurial and philanthropic activities and the various ways in which they have benefited the United Kingdom and the U.K.-U.S. special relationship,” Queen Elizabeth II named Bloomberg an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2014.
Books and other works
In 1997, Wiley published Bloomberg by Bloomberg, an autobiography that he co-wrote with Matthew Winkler. 2019 saw the publication of a second edition before Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential bid. The climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet, co-written by Bloomberg and former Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, was published by St. Martin’s Press. The book debuted on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction best-seller list. In the New York Times, Bloomberg has written a number of op-eds on a variety of topics, including one in support of local and state efforts to combat climate change, one about his $1.8 billion gift to support financial aid for college students, one in support of need-blind admissions practices, one in support of a ban on flavored e-cigarettes, and one in support of measures to lessen economic inequality.
2016 Presidential Consideration
In March 2016, Bloomberg formally abandoned his plans to run as a third-party independent during the 2016 presidential election. Bloomberg feared that the candidates from the Democratic and Republican parties were too extreme and would alienate many voters.
On July 27, 2016, Bloomberg gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention in support of Hillary Clinton. He was frank about his political philosophy and how he came to support her.
In his prime-time speech, Bloomberg said, “I look at the candidate, not the party name, every time I enter the voting booth. “I occasionally disagree with Hillary Clinton. But let me tell you, I’ve come here to say that, whatever our differences may be, we must set them aside for the sake of our nation. The candidate who can overcome a dangerous demagogue must have our support “He used Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, as an example.
Climate Issues
Bloomberg later gained support among many who disagreed with Trump’s policies, despite his inability to stop his victory of Trump. The former mayor quickly rallied a group of powerful figures and declared that Bloomberg Philanthropies will contribute up to $15 million in funding to make up for the loss of American resources when Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Agreement in June 2017.
Bloomberg participated in a star-studded meeting of presidents, environmentalists, and other corporate executives at the One Planet Summit in Paris in December, which marked the second anniversary of the Paris Agreement. When asked if Trump’s withdrawal harmed the Paris Agreement’s objectives, Bloomberg seems to think the opposite: “The pro-environmentalist organizations’ rallying cry has been that President Trump holds a different perspective. And that’s really helped,” he remarked. I just want to express my gratitude to him for all of his help.
Bloomberg committed $4.5 million in April 2018 to help defray the annual U.S. financial contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement. While Bloomberg also said in an interview at the time that he hoped President Trump would change his mind on the topic, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ founder has said in a statement that he will continue to support the agreement even if the U.S. does not rejoin.
Aiming to “retire every single coal-fired power plant over the next 11 years” and “begin transitioning America as rapidly as possible away from oil and gas and toward a 100 percent renewable energy economy,” the environmentalist announced intentions to launch Beyond Carbon in March 2019.
Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 Presidential Bid: A Rollercoaster Ride
Michael Bloomberg’s decision to enter the 2020 presidential race came as a surprise to many. Despite initially opting out, he submitted his paperwork just before the November 2019 deadline, determined to take on Donald Trump and revitalize America. Bloomberg’s late entry meant missing out on early primaries, but his team remained confident in their strategy to mount a national campaign.
Formally announcing his candidacy on November 24, 2019, Bloomberg positioned himself as a problem-solver ready to tackle the nation’s challenges head-on. His aggressive advertising and public sparring with Trump quickly propelled him up the polls. However, his first debate appearance in February 2020 turned contentious, with rivals like Elizabeth Warren criticizing his controversial policies and remarks from his time as mayor of New York City.
Despite setbacks and the withdrawal of other moderate candidates following Biden’s success in South Carolina, Bloomberg pressed on. Yet, his only victory came in American Samoa, failing to justify his extensive spending. Following a disappointing Super Tuesday, Bloomberg bowed out of the race.
However, Bloomberg’s story didn’t end there. In April, he made a comeback of sorts, pledging $10 million to aid New York’s COVID-19 response, partnering with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Vital Strategies to ramp up testing and tracking efforts.
Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign was a whirlwind of highs and lows, showcasing the challenges and unpredictability of American politics.
