Former New York City Mayor and founder of Bloomberg LP Michael Bloomberg formally entered the 2020 presidential race in November 2019. He is the second billionaire Democrat to seek the presidency during this election cycle.
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Here’s everything you need to know:
Name: Michael Rubens Bloomberg
Party: Democrat
Date of Birth: Feb. 14, 1942
Age: 77
Hometown: Medford, Massachusetts
Family: Bloomberg has been in a longtime domestic relationship with Diana Taylor. He is also the father to two daughters, Emma and Georgina.
Paul Morigi/Getty Images
Michael Bloomberg attends the "Paris to Pittsburgh" film screening hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies and National Geographic at National Geographic Headquarters, Feb. 13, 2019 in Washington, DC.
Education: He earned a masters in business administration from Harvard Business School in 1966 and a bachelor of arts degree from John Hopkins University in 1964.
What he does now: He stepped down from his duties with Bloomberg LP when he launched his campaign for president.
What he used to do: From 2002 to 2013, he served as mayor of New York City. Bloomberg is a former Wall Street executive and founder of Bloomberg LP.
(MORE: Who’s running for president in 2020?)
Key life/career moments:
In 1982, Bloomberg founded Innovative Market Systems, a financial data services firm. Over the course of two decades, Innovative Market Systems, now named Bloomberg LP, became one of the global leaders in financial data services.
After two decades of leading Bloomberg LP, he was elected the 108th mayor of New York City. He went on to serve three terms as mayor, one as an Independent and two as a Republican.
Bloomberg returned to his duties with Bloomberg LP after serving three terms as mayor. He currently has a reported net worth of $54.6 billion according to Forbes.
(MORE: Bloomberg, in campaign event, calls Trump an ‘existential threat’)
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP, FILE
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, right, answers a question from a reporter as Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer listens after touring an Orlando Utilities Commission facility, Feb. 8, 2019, in Orlando, Fla.
(MORE: Bloomberg’s launches 1st presidential TV ad, part of historic $37 million buy)
Where he stands on some of the issues:
One of the core tenants of Bloomberg’s campaign is job creation. His company, Bloomberg LP, currently employs nearly 20,000 people. He “will work to strengthen the middle class, invest in education, create good-paying jobs in renewable energy and other industries,” according to his campaign website. As mayor of New York City, he created the Small Business Solutions Center that offered free services to nearly 10,000 business throughout the city.
On the topic of immigration, the former New York City mayor has insisted on more lenient policies compared to those of the incumbent President Donald Trump. While speaking to reporters in Phoenix on Nov. 26, he said, “Ripping kids away from their parents is a disgrace.”
“We need immigrants to take all the different kinds of jobs that the country needs — improve our culture, our cuisine, our religion, our dialogue and certainly improve our economy,” he added.
However, ahead of announcing his run for the White House, Bloomberg pulled back from one of the policies he embraced as mayor and continued to defend up until he addressed a church congregation in New York on Nov. 17. He expressed regret about the implementation of the controversial “stop-and-frisk” policy. The policy gave police wide authority to detain people they suspected of committing a crime and there was a disproportionate impact on people of color.
“I can’t change history,” he said. “However today, I want you to know that I realize back then I was wrong.”
(MORE: ‘The View’ reacts to Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential bid, eight-figure TV ad campaign)
Fundraising:
The former mayor announced on Nov. 23 that he will not be taking any donations.
“I’m going to finance a campaign — if there is one — with my own money so I don’t owe anybody anything,” he said.
As a result of his decision to deny any outside of fundraising, he will not meet the donor thresholds for the debates. Instead, he will rely on a grassroots campaign fueled by his wealth.
Early in his campaign, he used his own wealth to purchase $37 million in television ads across the country, including key markets in California, New York, Florida, Texas and Illinois.
Despite his resources, he believes it will be a challenge moving forward in his presidential campaign.
“It costs a lot of money whether you’re doing it with your own money or somebody else’s money to get a message out,” he said. “I remember in New York City, it was very hard to get a message out and that’s just one city. Now you’re talking about a whole country.”
Spencer Platt/Getty Images, FILE
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks at a news conference, Feb. 19, 2002, at City Hall in New York City.
(MORE: 6th Democratic primary debate to be held at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles)
What you might not know about him:
According to Forbes, he is the 10th richest person in America.
During his first three years at Johns Hopkins University, he earned mostly C’s.
He earned $9,000 a year at his first job on Wall Street.
He extended the previous two-term limit in New York City for elected officials so he could run for mayor a third time.
When he served as New York City’s Mayor, he earned a salary of $1 per year and often took the subway to work.
In 2017, he co-wrote a book on climate change entitled “Climate of Hope”
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