Top 10 Things To Know About Michael Bloomberg, Candidate for US President

Here are the 10 most important facts about Michael Bloomberg in 2019:

1 – Bloomberg is Centralist & Pragmatist:

Officially, he has been all over the political spectrum:

1. Prior to 2000, he was a registered Democrat
2. In 2001 he was the Republican Mayor of New York
3. In 2007 he officially registered himself as an independent
4. In October 2018, he registered as a Democrat
   

   “…At key points in U.S. history, one of the two parties has served as a bulwark against those who threaten our Constitution. Two years ago at the Democratic Convention, I warned of those threats. Today, I have re-registered as a Democrat – I had been a member for most of my life – because we need Democrats to provide the checks and balance our nation so badly needs”. SOURCE

2 – Bloomberg Did Not Grow Up Particularly Wealthy:

His grandparents were from Belarus and Russia and his father was an accountant for a dairy company.

3 – Michael Bloomberg is Very Well Educated:

He earned Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering and went on to achieve his Masters Degree in Business Administration from Harvard in 1966.

4 – Bloomberg is Very Rich:

Mike Bloomberg became a billionaire in 1996 and has now amassed a $53 billion fortune:

Click to Enlarge this Graphic:
.

5 – Michael Bloomberg’s Money Came From Work:

While he started in an entry level position, his personal wealth began to accumulate after he became a partner in Wall Street investment bank called Salomon Brothers.  When Saloman was bought out in 1981 he was not given a severance package but his partial ownership of the company netted him about USD$10 million ($28 million in 2019 dollars).

6 – Bloomberg Is An Entrepreneur:

Micheal Bloomberg used that windfall to start a business information company he cleverly named Innovative Market Systems.  The company focused on providing data in an easy to consume formats like graphs, which was an innovation to the existing ticker tapes and press releases many investment companies relied on.  In 1982 Merrill Lynch installed 22 “Terminals” and invested $30 million ($80 million 2019 dollars) into his company.  He renamed ‘Innovative Market Systems’ to Bloomberg LP in 1987 at which point he owned the market on fast delivery of high quality, consumable corporate insight data.  By this time more than 8000 Bloomberg Terminals had been installed around the globe connecting to his private, pre-internet, server farm in New York.

7 – Mike Bloomberg Is Socially Left & Fiscally Right:

• supporting abortion rights
• supporting same sex marriage
• providing a path to citizenship for many, but not all, illegal immigrants
• strict gun controls
• decriminalizing marijuana
  

  “…He has stated that he smoked marijuana in the past, and was quoted in a 2001 interview as saying “You bet I did. I enjoyed it.” SOURCE

• using public funds to assist with diabetes, HIV and other health concerns
• fighting climate change
• support for small and medium scale commercial developments while opposing many mega-projects on environmental grounds
• being a strong advocate for free trade
• balanced budgets

8 – Bloomberg is a Serious Philanthropist:

In 2015 the Chronicle of Philanthropy named him the third largest donor in America.  He has joined Bill Gates, Mark Zukerberg and Warren Buffet in agreeing to donate 90% of his wealth before he dies.  Some of his more notable donations over the years include:

• $3.3 Billion to Johns Hopkins University for student tuition assistance – This is the total from several donations including a single $1.8 Billion in November of 2018 which is the largest education related donation in history
• $50 Million to Bostons Museum of Science in October 2016
• $1.5 Billion to Bloomberg Health Initiative –  This is the total from several donations including $300 Million in September 2016
• $220 Million into global work against smoking
• Giving $254 million dollars to other charities in 2009

9 – Mike Bloomberg Spends His Own Money:

• When running for Mayor of New York he spent $73 Million ($105 million in 2019 dollars)
• He will not take donations for his 2020 presidential bid
  • It typically costs about $1 Billion to run for US President and Bloomberg is expected to exceed that amount

10 – Bloomberg Typically Donates To A Person or Cause, Not To A Party:

“…Bloomberg has played both sides of the aisle when making campaign contributions. He has donated millions of dollars to various political committees, including the campaigns of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and the late former Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Bloomberg has also contributed to the campaigns of Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey.”  Source

If you haven’t seen Mike Bloomberg speak, watch this 2016 video in which he discusses many of the points we covered above:

In case you want the numbers for your own analysis: