Bloomberg, Michael

▪ 2002

      In 2001, after 20 successful years of leading the financial information firm he founded, Michael Bloomberg was ready to lead something new. For his next challenge he entered the race for mayor of New York City. The formal announcement of his candidacy in early June sparked two types of speculation: what effect Bloomberg's election as mayor might have on New York City and what effect his absence as CEO might have on his company, Bloomberg LP.

      Michael Rubens Bloomberg was born in Medford, Mass., on Feb. 14, 1942. His father was a bookkeeper and his mother a secretary. After earning a bachelor's degree in engineering from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., in 1964, he attended Harvard University (M.B.A., 1966) and then took an entry-level job with Salomon Brothers investment bank. Within 15 years he had achieved the level of partner and was leading the firm's block trading operations. A political shake-up at Salomon in 1981 left him without a job, but with his $10 million partnership buyout, he created Innovative Market Systems. By 2001 the renamed Bloomberg LP employed more than 7,000 people around the world. Central to the company's success was the Bloomberg computer terminal, a comprehensive financial news and information source that was leased to users at a price of $1,285 per month. The company's other holdings included the Bloomberg Business News wire service, news radio station WBBR in New York City, Bloomberg Television, and specialty magazines.

      While the firm's customers were among the wealthiest people in the world, and Bloomberg—being one of them—operated in a fairly narrow spectrum of privilege and influence, he was generous with his money. Over the years he had donated or pledged roughly $100 million to Johns Hopkins University. He also served on the boards of leading cultural institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum, Lincoln Center, the Central Park Conservancy, and the Jewish Museum. Reportedly worth about $4.5 billion, Bloomberg funded much of his mayoral campaign himself, spending more than $68 million from his personal fortune. His campaign themes focused on issues of great concern to New Yorkers: improvements in traffic and transit, housing, and education. What helped him most, however, was the endorsement of outgoing New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, whose leadership following the September 11 terrorist attacks was universally praised. After trailing badly in the polls just weeks before the November 6 election, Bloomberg went on to win the mayor's race, defeating Democrat Mark Green by a narrow margin.

      Certainly Bloomberg's political and business strategies had been made in tandem. Perhaps to reveal his own concerns about his company's future growth, Bloomberg had chosen the head of Bloomberg's European sales force, Lex Fenwick, to manage the firm's day-to-day business operations during the campaign. Competitive pressures from other financial information providers—especially Reuters—threatened to cut into Bloomberg's markets. As mayor, Bloomberg knew that his old firm would have to fight to retain customers while attracting new ones.

Sarah Forbes Orwig

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▪ American businessman and politician

in full  Michael Rubens Bloomberg 

born Feb. 14, 1942, Medford, Mass., U.S.

      American businessman and politician, who founded a financial data-services firm and served as mayor of New York City (2002– ).

      His father, a Polish immigrant, was a bookkeeper and his mother was a secretary. After studying engineering at Johns Hopkins University (B.S., 1964), he attended Harvard University (M.B.A., 1966) and took an entry-level position with Salomon Brothers investment bank. Within 15 years he had achieved the level of partner and was leading the firm's block trading operations. When Salomon's acquisition by another firm in 1981 left him without a job, Bloomberg's $10 million partnership buyout provided the funding he needed to create Innovative Market Systems, a financial-data service firm, in 1982. Twenty years later, the renamed Bloomberg LP had become a global leader in financial data services. Central to the company's success was the Bloomberg computer terminal, a comprehensive financial news and information source. The company's other holdings included the Bloomberg Business News wire service, news radio station WBBR in New York City, and Bloomberg Television.

      While at the helm of his company, Bloomberg served on the boards of leading cultural institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Central Park Conservancy, and the Jewish Museum, and he donated $100 million to Johns Hopkins University. Yet he had been known for tyrannical outbursts in the Bloomberg offices, browbeating employees and turning against anyone who left his firm. Intensely competitive, Bloomberg, a lifelong Democrat, entered the 2001 race for mayor of New York City—as a Republican. Bloomberg funded much of his mayoral campaign himself, spending more than $68 million from his personal fortune (his reported net worth at the time was roughly $4.5 billion).

      His campaign themes focused on issues of great concern to New Yorkers: improvements in traffic and transit, housing, and education. What helped him most, however, was the endorsement of outgoing New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (Giuliani, Rudolph W.), whose leadership following the September 11 attacks was universally praised. After trailing badly in the polls just weeks before the November 6 election, Bloomberg won the mayor's race. He immediately led redevelopment efforts, pushed for the passage of a controversial citywide smoking ban (the Smoke-Free Air Act of 2002), revitalized tourism, and erased the city's budget deficit. Elected to a second mayoral term in 2005, Bloomberg promoted a ban on trans fat in foods, pursued environmental initiatives such as congestion pricing during peak traffic hours, and proposed a 25-year plan for improving the city's infrastructure. He also raised his national profile by delivering policy-related speeches around the country and, in 2007, withdrawing from the Republican Party, all of which fueled rumours of Bloomberg's interest in a 2008 U.S. presidential bid as an independent candidate. Instead, however, he announced in October 2008 that he would seek reelection as mayor if the term-limit law were amended; several weeks later the New York City Council revised the law to allow three consecutive terms.

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