Michael Rubens Bloomberg (English Michael Bloomberg) – businessman, 108th mayor of New York (2002-2013), philanthropist. He is one of the richest people in the world according to Forbes, in 2016 he ranks 8th with a fortune of $ 45.6 billion. He is the founder and owner of the Bloomberg news agency.
Place of Birth. Education. Born February 14, 1942 in Boston to a Jewish family, his father William Henry Bloomberg was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts (January 19, 1906-1963) to an immigrant family. Mother – Charlotte Bloomberg (nee Reubens, January 1909 – June 19, 2011) in New Jersey.
In 1964 he graduated from Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Business School. Received a bachelor’s degree and later a master’s degree in business administration.
Business. He began his business career at Salomon Brothers, where he headed stock trading and was responsible for information systems. In 1981, Salomon was sold to a new owner, and Bloomberg lost his job. Using his share of the profits from the sale of Salomon shares, he founded his own firm Bloomberg LP that same year, which collected, analyzed and sold information on the state of financial markets. Michael Bloomberg personally developed a computer information analysis system for traders, and subsequently opened an online service for stock trading. Competitors almost did not use computers in their work (the 80s were just beginning), and for the most part they had not even heard about computer networks. To date, Bloomberg’s success has been based on a tangible superiority over competitors in the use of computer technology. By pairing real-time quotes with analytics (a service neither Reuters nor Telerate provided), Bloomberg was able to carve out a niche that seemed out of place.
Bloomberg’s empire includes TV channels, radio stations and a worldwide financial news computer network. The company is now one of the world’s leading providers of financial news, with over 9,500 employees in 130 countries. The number of subscribers to Bloomberg LP news exceeded 250,000.
Political career. In the New York mayoral election on November 6, 2001, Bloomberg decides to run for the Republican Party, as too many candidates applied for the Democratic nomination. Bloomberg spent $73 million of his own money on the 2001 election campaign, and although New Yorkers historically support the more liberal Democratic Party in elections, he wins with 50%, while his opponent is only 48%. A big part of his success was the support of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who gained national recognition after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
During his first term, Bloomberg carried out a number of different transformations, accepted in different ways in society. Thus, among the unpopular reforms (among a certain part of the population) were tax increases, cuts in administration costs, and a ban on smoking in restaurants, clubs and bars. Among the positively received results of Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor were a 20% reduction in crime in the city, growth of the economy, the creation of new jobs through support for small businesses, the construction of affordable housing, and school reform.
In 2005, Michael Bloomberg, with the help of a coalition of different political forces, was re-elected for a second term. The gap in the votes in the elections was 20% – a record figure for the Republican mayor of New York. Bloomberg spent $1 million more on this campaign than on his previous campaign, totaling more than $74 million.
From 2005 to 2009, Bloomberg City Hall managed to balance the city budget, unemployment reached a record low. An innovative program to combat poverty through the creation of new jobs was put into action, and a campaign was launched to combat global warming.
On October 2, 2008, Bloomberg announced that he would seek to change the number of terms for mayor of New York from two to three, explaining that during the financial crisis he should be the head of the city, as he is a major specialist in the field of finance. On October 23, the New York City Council passed the change to the law by a vote of 29 in favor and 22 against, allowing Bloomberg to run for a third time.
The election was held on November 3, 2009, and Bloomberg defeated his only opponent, Democrat William Thompson, who now holds the position of financial auditor. However, Bloomberg’s advantage was not as significant as expected: only 50.5% of voters voted for him (of which 37% were Republicans). In 2014, the powers of the mayor passed to Bill de Blasio.
As mayor of New York, Bloomberg set himself a salary of $1 a year, he also did not use public housing, living entirely on business income.
Since January 31, 2014, he has been the UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change.
On November 7, 2019, he filed paperwork to be registered as a Democratic presidential candidate in the Alabama primary. Participant in the Democratic Party primary for the 2024 US presidential election.
On March 4, 2024, he decided to withdraw from the presidential race, withdraw his candidacy and support Joe Biden.
State. According to Forbes, in 2008 Michael Bloomberg’s net worth was estimated at $20 billion, making him the 8th richest American.
According to Forbes, in 2009, as a result of the crisis, Michael Bloomberg’s fortune decreased to $16 billion, and again, the 8th place in the ranking of the richest Americans.
In 2016, Bloomberg’s fortune was estimated by Forbes at $40 billion.
As of May 5, 2018, he ranked 11th with a fortune of $50.4 billion according to Forbes.
Charity. Michael Bloomberg pays active attention to charity. Over the past few decades, he has been a member of numerous non-profit organizations.
In 2008 alone, Michael Bloomberg donated more than $440 million to charity. In 2009, Bloomberg donated $6.5 million to equip Jerusalem’s rescue service with the latest equipment. According to Bloomberg, this was done in memory of his father. He said that his family maintains about 600 such centers around the world.
In 2011, the Bloomberg Philanthropies donated more than $330 million to various organizations around the globe. The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked Michael Bloomberg as the fifth most generous philanthropist in America. Bloomberg’s charitable foundation funds various programs to improve the health system, including the global anti-tobacco campaign. In addition, the fund provides funds for projects of a different nature, for example, to improve the level of safety of highways in countries around the world, from Vietnam to Egypt.
November 19 2018 donated $1.8 billion USA Johns Hopkins University. This is the largest donation of its kind in history. The funds are intended for scholarships for gifted students from poor families.
Awards. Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) (October 6, 2014).
Family. He was married to Susan Brown, has two daughters from this marriage: Emma born in 1979 and Georgina born in 1983. Currently divorced, but in a civil marriage with Diana Taylor.
02/12/2021