Michael Rubens Bloomberg KBE (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, author, and philanthropist. As of April 2019, his net worth was estimated at $62.1 billion, making him the sixth-richest person in the United States and the ninth richest person in the world. He has joined The Giving Pledge, whereby billionaires pledge to give away at least half of their wealth. To date, Bloomberg has given away $8.2 billion, including his November 2018 $1.8 billion gift to Johns Hopkins University for student aidโthe largest private donation ever made to a higher education institution.Bloomberg is one of the founders, CEO, and owner of Bloomberg L.P., a global financial services, software and mass media company that bears his name, and is notable for its Bloomberg Terminal, a computer software system providing financial data widely used in the global financial services industry. He began his career at the securities brokerage Salomon Brothers, before forming his own company in 1981 and spending the next twenty years as its chairman and CEO. Bloomberg also served as chair of the board of trustees at his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, from 1996 to 2002.
Bloomberg served as the 108th Mayor of New York City, holding office for three consecutive terms, beginning his first in 2001. A Democrat 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. He won a second term in 2005, and left the Republican Party two years later. Bloomberg campaigned to change the city's term limits law, and was elected to his third term in 2009 as an Independent on the Republican ballot line.
Bloomberg was frequently mentioned as a possible centrist candidate for the U.S. Presidential elections in 2008, and 2012, as well as for Governor of New York in 2010. He declined to seek either office, opting to continue serving as the mayor of New York City. His final term as mayor ended on December 31, 2013.
After a brief stint as a full-time philanthropist, Bloomberg re-assumed the position of CEO at Bloomberg L.P. by the end of 2014. On March 7, 2016, Bloomberg announced that he would not run as a third party candidate in the 2016 U.S. presidential election despite widespread speculation that he would, and later endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president. In October 2018, Bloomberg announced that he had changed his political party affiliation to Democratic, which he had previously been registered as prior to 2001.
