Founder and CEO of prominent media company Bloomberg LP and a leading philanthropist, Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of America’s largest city New York City, has joined the race for the Democratic US presidential nomination aiming to beat fellow New Yorker Donald Trump in the November 2020 election.
“I’m running for president to defeat Donald Trump and rebuild America. We cannot afford four more years of President Trump’s reckless and unethical actions,” Bloomberg, a 77-year-old former Republican, said in a statement launching his campaign.
The move represents an about-face for Bloomberg, who had said in March he would not run for president. He will compete with former Vice President Joe Biden and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana to become the moderate alternative to liberal U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
Bloomberg, founder, and CEO of prominent media company Bloomberg LP and a leading philanthropist has a financial advantage over his Democratic rivals. It already is on display as he has spent at least $31 million in television ads that will run in states across the country over the next two weeks, a campaign spokesman said. He has won allies in the party with his advocacy and philanthropy on climate change and in fighting gun violence, pouring millions of dollars into groups pushing for more restrictive gun laws.
Ranked by Forbes as the eighth-richest American with an estimated worth of $53.4 billion, Bloomberg joins activist Tom Steyer as the second billionaire to enter the Democratic race and will have the advantage of being able to self-finance his campaign and pour millions of dollars into advertising and hiring staff.
