|
Mike Bloomberg on Principles & Values
Independent possibility for President
|
Offered independent ticket by Sen. Chuck Hagel (R, NE)
While NYC Mayor Bloomberg says he is content running the 5 boroughs, other politicians have higher aspirations for the successful leader. On CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Sen. Chuck Hagel suggested he and the mayor team up for an independent presidential bid.
“I think Mayor Bloomberg should seriously think about this,” Hagel said. “He is the mayor of one of the greatest cities on earth. He makes that city work. That’s what America wants.” Hagel made the suggestion after sharing a meal with Bloomberg durin
the mayor’s most recent visit to Washington. “It’s a great country to think about--a New York boy and a Nebraska boy to be teamed up, leading this nation,” he said.
Bloomberg has said repeatedly he will not enter the presidential race. Nevertheless,
Bloomberg has fueled speculation about his ambitions with a schedule that has frequently taken him outside NY. He has also relaunched a Web site, www.mikebloomberg.com, to keep backers abreast of his governmental and philanthropic work, Bloomberg says.
Source: New York Newsday, “US Politics”
May 14, 2007
Will decide in early ‘08 on run as self-financed independent
As fellow New Yorkers Rudy Giuliani (R) and Hillary Clinton (D) campaign vigorously across the country to become their parties’ nominees and prepare for what would be an electric general-election clash, Bloomberg is patiently waiting in the wings.
Publicly, the Democrat-turned-Republican professes no interest in the top job. But Bloomberg has dropped enough hints and has had enough tantalizing discussions with potential supporters that people who observe the city’s politics for a living are
Source:
Mar 25, 2007
Acquisition of money inextricably tied to hard work
Bloomberg grew up in a blue-collar suburb of Boston. The Bloombergs owned their own home, but Michael’s father worked seven days a week as to feed his family. Michael’s view of money was formed early: It was a tool, imbued with no emotional attachment
whatsoever. And the acquisition of money was inextricably tied to hard work, nothing else. Throughout the fifties, though, William regularly wrote small checks to the NAACP. “He said it was because discrimination is against everybody,” Bloomberg recalls.
Source: Chris Smith, New York Magazine
Oct 3, 2005
Charitable giving based on “Where can I make a difference?”
In 1994, Bloomberg hired [philanthropic staff], focusing on education, public health, and the arts. Some money was directed to people and organizations with social connections to Bloomberg.
Other Bloomberg gifts have gone to causes traceable to his upbringing and Jewish heritage. Bloomberg has given well over $150 million to Johns Hopkins, his alma mater, with much of it directed to the school of public health-which in
April 2001 was renamed the Bloomberg School of Public Health. According to the university’s dean, “He said, ‘The company is going to be a going concern whether I’m here or not, and
I need another challenge, and it’s not building another company. I don’t need any more money. Where can I make a difference?’ ”
Source: Chris Smith, New York Magazine
Oct 3, 2005
Started Bloomberg company after Salomon Bros. fired him
[Upon being fired from Salomon Brothers in 1981], if they’d said, “We have another job for you”--say, running the Afghanistan office--I’d have done it in a second. Was I sad on the drive home? You bet. But, as usual, I was much too macho to show it. And
I did have $10 million in cash and convertible bonds as compensation for my hurt feelings. I ordered a sable jacket for my wife, Sue. While I was never embarrassed to say that I’d been fired and was now running a small start-up business,
I’m tougher than many others (or, perhaps as a psychological defense mechanism, I have convinced myself not to care what others think). But I was worried that Sue might be ashamed of my new, less visible status and concerned I couldn’t support the family
A sable jacket seemed to say, “No sweat. We can still eat. We’re still players.”
On my last day of work, September 30, 1981, I picked up the jacket. Sue was delighted. Next morning, I started Bloomberg, the company. The rest is work in progress.
Source: Chapter 1 of “Bloomberg by Bloomberg,” by Mike Bloomberg
Aug 10, 2001
Page last updated: Feb 08, 2010