With a fortune of $44.6bn (N9tn), it is
not surprising to see Michael Bloomberg on the 2016 list of Forbes’
world’s billionaires.
The founder of Bloomberg LP and
Bloomberg Philanthropies, Bloomberg was the 108th Mayor of New York City
in the United States of America and served for three terms.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on
February 14, 1942 and raised in a middle class home in Medford,
Bloomberg attended Johns Hopkins University, where he paid his tuition
by taking out loans and working as a parking lot attendant.
After college, he attended Harvard
Business School and in 1966 was hired by a Wall Street firm, Salomon
Brothers, for an entry-level job.
Not wanting to be an average person,
Bloomberg quickly rose through the ranks at Salomon, overseeing equity
trading and sales before heading up the firm’s information systems unit.
When Salomon was acquired in 1981, he was fired from the firm, with a severance cheque to the tune of $10m (N2bn).
A bigger company, Merrill Lynch, purchased 22 of those terminals, investing $30m (N6bn) in Bloomberg’s company.
The company, renamed Bloomberg LP, became widely successful throughout the ‘80s and was worth $2bn (N398bn) by 1989.
Eventually, Bloomberg began branching out into other forms of media, including Bloomberg News and Bloomberg TV.
Today, Bloomberg LP is a global company that has more than 15,500 employees and offices in 73 countries around the world.
In 2001, Bloomberg decided to enter the
world of politics and ran for mayor of New York City as a Republican. He
won and took office in 2002, and he helped rebuild the city in the
aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Already a billionaire, Bloomberg
collected only $1 (N199) a year as salary throughout his 12 years in the
mayor’s office, plus he still doled out $650m (N129bn) of his own money
along the way.
During his tenure as mayor (2002 to
2013), Bloomberg brought his innovation-driven approach to city
government. He turned around a broken public school system by raising
standards and holding schools accountable for success.
He spurred economic growth and recorded
levels of job creation by revitalising old industrial areas, spurring
entrepreneurship, supporting small businesses, and strengthening key
industries, including new media, film and television, bio-science,
technology, and tourism.
Bloomberg’s economic policies were said
to have helped New York City experience record-levels of private-sector
job growth often in formerly depressed neighbourhoods, even in the wake
of the deep national recession.
Upon retiring as a mayor, he returned to
the company he founded, while also devoting more time to philanthropy,
which has been a top priority for him throughout his career.
He has donated over $2.5bn (N498bn) to various causes through his charitable organisation, Bloomberg Philanthropies.
His recent gifts included $100m (N20bn)
to Cornell University, New York, for the construction of a new
tech-focused graduate school in the city.
In 2013, he also gave $350m (N70bn) to
his alma mater, Johns Hopkins, bringing the sum of his donations to the
school to $1.1bn (N220bn). The latest massive donation made him the most
generous living donor to any school in the US.
He was said to have also dropped $42m
(N8.4bn) to improve municipal governments across the country. The
programme will help mid-size cities learn to analyse and use data in
ways that help better the citizens’ lives.
Unlike some Republicans like Donald
Trump, Bloomberg is firmly in favour of gun control, and has pledged
over $50m (N10bn) towards campaign for stricter gun restrictions.
Bloomberg’s cars, homes and private jets
Speed is essential in the financial world, which is perhaps why Bloomberg drives around in an ultra-fast Audi R8.
The German supercar is able to hit a top speed of about 200 miles per hour and can sprint from a 0-62 mph in just 3.6 seconds.
He also owns a Chevrolet Suburban SUV, which is one of the most powerful and comfortable cars in this segment.
With a seating capacity of nine, the car is known for its cavernous spaciousness over its appealing good looks.
He’s also got a handful of expensive
toys to keep him busy — including a six-seater Agusta SPA A109s
helicopter, worth $4.5m (N900m).
Bloomberg frequently flies one of his
private jets down to Bermuda, a group of 150 small islands off the coast
of North Carolina in the US, where he owns a house right on the water.
The former mayor heads to the island to
unwind, and does everything in his power to keep his life there separate
from his days in the bustling New York City.
Bloomberg controls an impressive real
estate portfolio, as he owns about 14 properties worldwide, from New
York to London to Bermuda.
When he’s home in New York, he relaxes
in his five-storey mansion on 79th Street, which he recently renovated
at a cost of $1.7m (N340m).
Sources: businessinsider.com, bloomberg.com, bornrich.com, forbes.com, en.wikipedia.org, mikebloomberg.com
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