Building a Media Empire

photo by Rubenstein

Boston-born Michael Bloomberg is the current mayor of New York City as well as the founder of Bloomberg L.P. The company got its start in financial software development but has bloomed into an international media conglomerate. Bloomberg has a net worth of nearly $20 million (Forbes.com) although his beginning was far more humble. His father was a real estate agent and a Jewish Russian immigrant. Bloomberg attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and paid for his tuition by working as a parking lot attendant.

After earning a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Bloomberg earned his MBA from Harvard. He also holds three honorary doctorates awarded in the last decade by Tufts, George Washington and Fordham universities. In addition, he worked as a general partner with Salomon Brothers for nine years starting in the 1970sbut was fired in 1981 and was given a $10 million severance. Bloomberg used his severance as seed money to launch Bloomberg L.P.

In 2001, Bloomberg ran for mayor of New York City and won, succeeding Mayor Rudi Guiliani and spending an unheard of amount of his own money in his mayoral campaign. Bloomberg served as a republican mayor for two terms before switching to an independent and winning a third term. Bloomberg receives $1 each year as compensation for serving as mayor. He chooses to live in his own residence located in the Upper East Side of Manhattan rather than at the mayor’s mansion and he often rides the subway.

Along with being a media mogul, Bloomberg is one of the most philanthropic Americans, giving more than $200 million to charity each year. His charities include Johns Hopkins University, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the World Health Organization, and the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. Bloomberg has been quoted saying, “I am a big believer in giving it all away…” (Wall Street Journal). Indeed, he definitely lives up to this statement with his charitable contributions.