Michael Bloomberg
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Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001, and again from 2014 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 108th mayor of New York City for three terms, from 2002 to 2013, and was a candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president of the United States. Bloomberg grew up in Medford, Massachusetts, and graduated from Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland, and Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. He began his career at the securities brokerage firm Salomon Brothers, before forming his own company in 1981. That company, Bloomberg L.P., is a financial information, software, and media firm that is known for its Bloomberg Terminal. Bloomberg spent the next twenty years as its chairman and CEO. According to Forbes, as of May 2025, Bloomberg's estimated net worth stood at US$104.7 billion, making him the 18th richest individual in the world. Bloomberg, who has signed the Giving Pledge, has given away $17.4 billion to philanthropic causes in his lifetime. After a brief stint as a full-time philanthropist, he re-assumed the position of CEO at Bloomberg L.P. by the end of 2014. Bloomberg was elected the 108th mayor of New York City in 2001. He held office for three consecutive terms, winning re-election in 2005 and 2009. Pursuing socially liberal and fiscally moderate policies, Bloomberg developed a technocratic managerial style. As the mayor of New York, Bloomberg established public charter schools, rebuilt urban infrastructure, and supported gun control, public health initiatives, and environmental protections. He also led a re-zoning of large areas of the city, which facilitated massive and widespread new commercial and residential construction after the September 11 attacks. Bloomberg is considered to have had far-reaching influence on the politics, business sector, and culture of New York City during his three terms as mayor. He has also faced significant criticism for the city's stop and frisk program, support for which he reversed with an apology before his 2020 presidential run. In November 2019, four months before Super Tuesday, Bloomberg officially launched his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in the 2020 election. He ended his campaign in March 2020, after having won only 61 delegates. Bloomberg self-funded $935 million for his candidacy, which set the record for the most expensive presidential primary campaign and highest spending in any political capacity by a single individual in U.S. history. In 2024, Bloomberg received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.