Michael Bloomberg
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| Michael Bloomberg | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 108th Mayor of New York City | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Rudy Giuliani |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michael Rubens Bloomberg February 14, 1942 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (Before 2001) Republican (2001–2007) Independent (2007–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Susan Brown (1975–1993) |
| Domestic partner | Diana Taylor (2000–present) |
| Children | Georgina Emma |
| Alma mater | Johns Hopkins University Harvard Business School |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Net worth |  US$27 billion (2013)[1] |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Government website Personal website |
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American business magnate, politician and philanthropist. He is the 108th and current Mayor of New York City, having served three consecutive terms since his first election in 2001. With a net worth of $27 billion, he is also the 7th-richest person in the United States.[1] He is the founder and 88% owner ofBloomberg L.P., the global financial data and media company most famous for its Bloomberg Terminal.[2][3]
Bloomberg began his career at the securities brokerageSalomon Brothers before forming his company in 1981 and spending the next twenty years as its Chairman and CEO.[4] He also served as chairman of the board of trustees at his alma mater Johns Hopkins University from 1996 to 2002.[1] ADemocrat before seeking elective office, Bloomberg switched his party registration in 2001 to run for mayor as a Republican. He defeated opponent Mark Green in a close election held just weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Bloomberg won a second term in 2005 and left the Republican Party two years later.[4] He campaigned to change the city's term limits law in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and was elected to his third term in 2009 as an independent candidate on the Republican ballot line.
He was frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for the U.S. presidential elections in 2008 and 2012,[5] and for New York Governor in 2010. He declined to seek either office, instead opting to continue serving as Mayor of New York.
Contents
[hide]- 1 Early life
- 2 Business career
- 3 Elections
- 4 Mayoralty
- 5 Political stands
- 5.1 Social issues
- 5.2 Domestic issues
- 5.3 Education
- 5.4 Environmental issues
- 5.5 Immigration
- 5.6 Health regulations
- 5.7 Response to 9/11
- 5.8 Economic issues
- 5.9 Foreign policy
- 5.10 Preservation and development issues
- 5.11 2008 presidential campaign speculation
- 5.12 Rumored gubernatorial campaign
- 5.13 2012 presidential campaign speculation and role
- 6 Personal life
- 7 Philanthropy
- 8 Awards and honors
- 9 See also
- 10 References
- 11 Further reading
- 12 External links
Early life
Michael Bloomberg was born at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, on February 14, 1942.[6] His family is Jewish. His father, William Henry Bloomberg (1906–1963), was a real estate agent and the son of Alexander "Elick" Bloomberg, an immigrant from Russia. His mother, Charlotte Rubens Bloomberg (January 2, 1909 – June 19, 2011), was a native of Jersey City, New Jersey. His maternal grandfather, Max Rubens, also was an immigrant from Russia.[7]
The family lived in Allston, Massachusetts, until Bloomberg was two years old. They moved to Brookline, Massachusetts, for the next two years, finally settling in Medford, a Boston suburb, where he lived until after he graduated from college.[8] Bloomberg is also an Eagle Scout.[9][10]
Bloomberg attended Johns Hopkins University, where he joined Phi Kappa Psi. He graduated in 1964 with aBachelor of Science in electrical engineering.[11] In 1966 he received his Master of Business Administrationfrom Harvard Business School.[12][13]
Business career
In 1973, Bloomberg became a general partner at Salomon Brothers, a bulge-bracket Wall Street investment bank, where he headed equity trading and, later, systems development. In 1981, Salomon Brothers was bought[14] and Bloomberg was laid off from the investment bank and given a $10 million severance package.[15] Using this money, Bloomberg went on to set up a company named Innovative Market Systems. His business plan was based on the realization that Wall Street (and the financial community generally) was willing to pay for high quality business information, delivered as quickly as possible and in as many usable forms possible, via technology (e.g., graphs of highly specific trends).[16] In 1982, Merrill Lynch became the new company's first customer, installing 22 of the company's Market Master terminals and investing $30 million in the company. The company was renamed Bloomberg L.P. in 1987.[17] By 1990, it had installed 8,000 terminals.[18] Over the years, ancillary products including Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Message, and Bloomberg Tradebook were launched.[19]
As of 2012, the company had more than 310,000 terminals worldwide.[20] His company also has a radio network which currently has its flagship station as 1130 WBBR AM in New York City. He left the position of CEO to pursue a political career as the mayor of New York City. Bloomberg was replaced as CEO by Lex Fenwick.[21] The company is now led by president Daniel L. Doctoroff, a former deputy mayor under Bloomberg.[22]
Bloomberg wrote an autobiography, with help from Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief Matthew Winkler, calledBloomberg by Bloomberg.[23]
Wealth
In March 2013, Forbes reported Bloomberg's wealth as $27 billion and ranked him as the 13th richest person in the world. In March 2012, Forbes reported Bloomberg’s wealth at $22 billion, ranking him 20th in the world and 11th in the United States.[24] In March 2009, Forbes reported Bloomberg's wealth at $16 billion, a gain of $4.5 billion over the previous year, enjoying the world's biggest increase in wealth in 2009.[25] At that time, there were only four fortunes in the U.S. that were larger (although the Wal-Mart family fortune is split among four people). He moved from 142nd to 17th in the Forbes list of the world's billionaires in only two years (March 2007 – March 2009).[26][27]
Elections
2001 election
Main article: New York City mayoral election, 2001
In 2001, the incumbent mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, was ineligible for re-election, as the city limited the mayoralty to two consecutive terms. Several well-known New York City politicians aspired to succeed him. Bloomberg, a lifelong member of the Democratic Party, decided to run for mayor as a member of theRepublican Party ticket.
Voting in the primary began on the morning of September 11, 2001. The primary was postponed later that day. In the rescheduled primary, Bloomberg defeated Herman Badillo, a former Congressman, to become the Republican nominee. Meanwhile, the Democratic primary did not produce a first-round winner. After a runoff, the Democratic nomination went to New York City Public Advocate Mark J. Green.
In the general election, Bloomberg received Giuliani's endorsement. He also had a huge spending advantage. Although New York City's campaign finance law restricts the amount of contributions which a candidate can accept, Bloomberg chose not to use public campaign funds and therefore his campaign was not subject to these restrictions. He spent $73 million of his own money on his campaign, outspending Green by five to one.[28] One of the major themes of his campaign was that, with the city's economy suffering from the effects of the World Trade Center attacks, it needed a mayor with business experience.
In addition to serving as the Republican nominee, Bloomberg had the ballot line of the controversialIndependence Party, in which "Social Therapy" leaders Fred Newman and Lenora Fulani exert strong influence. Some say that endorsement was important, as Bloomberg's votes on that line exceeded his margin of victory over Green. (Under New York's fusion rules, a candidate can run on more than one party's line and combine all the votes received on all lines. Green, the Democrat, also had the ballot line of the Working Families Party. He also created an independent line called Students First whose votes were combined with those on the Independence line). Another factor was the vote in Staten Island, which has traditionally been far friendlier to Republicans than the rest of the city. Bloomberg handily beat Green in that borough, taking 75 percent of the vote there. Overall, Bloomberg won 50 percent to 48 percent.
Bloomberg's election marked the first time in New York City history that two different Republicans had been elected mayor consecutively. New York City has not been won by a Republican in a presidential election sinceCalvin Coolidge won in 1924. Bloomberg is considered a social liberal, who is pro-choice, in favor of legalizingsame-sex marriage and an advocate for stricter gun control laws.
Despite the fact that 68 percent of New York City's registered voters are Democrats, Bloomberg decided the city should host the 2004 Republican National Convention. The Convention drew thousands of protesters, many of them local residents angry over the Iraq war and other issues. The Police Department arrested approximately 1,800 protesters, but according to The New York Times, more than 90 percent of the cases were later dismissed or dropped for lack of evidence.
2005 election
Main article: New York City mayoral election, 2005
Bloomberg was re-elected mayor in November 2005 by a margin of 20 percent, the widest margin ever for a Republican mayor of New York.[29]
Bloomberg spent over $1 million on his campaign by late October 2005 and was projected to exceed the record of $74 million he spent on the previous election. In late 2004 or early 2005, Bloomberg gave theIndependence Party of New York $250,000 to fund a phone bank seeking to recruit volunteers for his re-election campaign.[30]
Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer won the Democratic nomination to oppose Bloomberg in the general election. Thomas Ognibene sought to run against Bloomberg in the Republican Party's primary election.[31] Bloomberg's campaign successfully challenged enough of the signatures Ognibene had submitted to the Board of Elections to prevent Ognibene from appearing on ballots for the Republican primary.[31] Instead, Ognibene ran only on the Conservative Party ticket.[32] Ognibene accused Bloomberg of betraying Republican Party ideals, a feeling echoed by others.[33][34][35][36][37]
Bloomberg opposed the confirmation of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the United States.[38] Though a Republican at the time, Bloomberg is a staunch supporter of abortion rights and did not believe that Roberts was committed to maintaining Roe v. Wade.[38]
In addition to receiving Republican support, Bloomberg obtained the endorsements of several prominent Democrats: former Democratic Mayor Ed Koch; former Democratic governor Hugh Carey; former Democratic City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, and his son, Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr.; former Democratic Congressman Floyd Flake (who had previously endorsed Bloomberg in 2001), and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.[39]
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