Michael Bloomberg Biography

New Yorkers certainly had their champion (sometimes loved, sometimes not) in Rudy Guiliani; however, Michael Bloomberg has since picked up the torch and went from a brisk gait to a full on sprint towards fully representing the interests of the Big Apple. In fact, Guiliani was so confident in Bloomberg’s abilities that he endorsed him in the last mayoral elections.

Starting with his first term in 2001, followed by a second in 2005, Bloomberg is NYC’s 108th mayor. A Massachusetts native, born in 1942 to a Jewish family, Bloomberg attended John Hopkins University for a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He started out as a partner with Salomon Brothers, heading up Equity Trading and the Systems Development sectors. He then went into business for himself, starting Bloomberg L.P., a media and financial data company that specializes in disseminating information to Wall Street companies. He also started a radio station in NYC and was listed in Forbes Magazine as the 44th richest person in the country in 2006.

Bloomberg was married to Briton Susan Brown (with whom he had two children) before divorcing in 1993. Since then, Bloomberg has been romantically linked to Diana Ross and Ann Reinking. Currently, he is dating Diana Taylor, who lives with him in a private residence on the Upper East Side. He does not reside in Gracie Mansion as Bloomberg firmly believes (and has publicly stated) that the taxpayers should have to pay for their mayor’s living expenses.
Although Bloomberg was a Democrat, he chose to run as a Republican. The first pri

mary was rescheduled as it began on the morning Sept. 11, 2001 when the terrorist attacks took place; however, in the re-scheduled primary, Bloomberg easily won over Herman Badillo, a former Congressman, and became the Republican candidate for NYC’s mayor. He went on to spend more than $72 million of his personal income on his campaign, insisting that his business experience would best serve the city in the period after the terrorist attacks. He won and joined Rudy Guiliani and Fiorello LaGuardia as Republican Mayors, all of whom were re-elected, in a city known for being staunchly Democratic.

Bloomberg has decidedly liberal leanings, as he is pro-choice and in favor of the legalization of same-sex marriage. Since he was voted into office, he accepted a salary of $1 annually and has worked to eradicate smoking globally. In fact, he donated $125 million to an anti-smoking initiative in 2006. He also led the charge to ban trans-fats from NYC restaurants, making it the first city in the country to do so. He is also a huge supporter of immigration reform, working to achieve rights for illegal immigrants, many of whom have settled in the New York City area.

Bloomberg is known for taking a stand on those topics he feels strongly about, and was one of the most high profile Republicans to oppose the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts on the Supreme Court. Much of his stance resulted from his differing views with Roberts on abortion rights; with Bloomberg stating that he felt Roberts wasn’t committed to upholding Roe versus Wade.

Bloomberg left the Republican Party in 2007, blasting the former administration of President George W Bush and the political climate in Washington. In 2008, he announced he would not be running for President after months of speculation on whether or not he would enter the race. He has instead decided on working to extend the term limits and trying for a third term as Mayor of NYC.

A. B. Barden