Friday, May 15, 2020

Did Multi-Billionaire Democratic Party Funder Bloomberg's Media Firm and Foundation Increase Wealth When Bloomberg Was NYC Mayor?


In his 2017 book, The Givers: Wealth, Power and Philanthropy, Inside Philanthropy media site editor David Callahan described Democratic Party Funder Michael Bloomberg's life after the multi-billionaire (who grew up in Massachusetts) ended his three terms as a "mayor" of New York City, in the following way:

"Michael Bloomberg prepared to step down as mayor of New York City after 12 years on the job...Bloomberg settled into his post-mayoral life...Bloomberg soon plunged back into...day-to-day management of his...media company, Bloomberg L.P....Bloomberg lived extravagantly...owning a private jet and some 13 properties around the world by 2013--which included estates in London, Bermuda, the Hamptons, and Westchester County...

"...Bloomberg...ended up owning 88 percent of a company that now has 19,000 employees and $9 billion in annual revenue. During his years as mayor, the value of the company had grown steadily. Bloomberg was worth just under $5 billion as he took office in 2002. By the time he left, that figure had soared to $33 billion. Within 2 years of leaving City Hall, his wealth had climbed higher still, to over $40 billion."


The same book also recalled how U.S. Multi-Billionaire Oligarch Bloomberg apparently used his "charitable" foundation to gain political power in New York City, to retain political power in New York City during his years as "mayor" and to continue to influence U.S. political decision-making after the Plutocrat from Massachusetts was no longer New York City's "mayor:"

"Bloomberg...started giving more once at City Hall...He gave many millions to nonprofit groups around the city--giving that some saw as a naked effort to co-opt critics and bolster his power...Never before had a major public official in the United States so adroitly used philanthropy to advance his agenda--just as Bloomberg set a new record for spending his own money to get elected in the first place.

"Bloomberg...quietly built up...his philanthropy during his years in government. He bought a $45 million...mansion on 78th and Madison in 2006 to house his foundation, and in 2010, he appointed his longtime aide Patricia Harris as CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies, a job she took on while still working at City Hall...You may have imagined that Michael Bloomberg's run as a power player would end when he stepped down as mayor of New York. Of course, nothing of the kind was true. He simply pivoted to pull other levers of influence. Bloomberg...used his great wealth to buy his way into office...

"...Not long before he was elected mayor of New York in 2001, Michael Bloomberg ran into his old friend Vartan Gregorian on the street in New York. Gregorian led the Carnegie Corporation...Bloomberg...soon sent over a very large check to Carnegie, which the foundation was free to use as it saw fit. More big checks followed after Bloomberg took office, arriving each December...Carnegie spread the money...to hundreds of nonprofits around the city, particularly arts and cultural groups. Ultimately, by 2010 more than $200 million would flow from Bloomberg...While the grants were made by Carnegie,...Bloomberg stayed anonymous...The mayor had quietly become one of the largest...funders of nonprofits in the city...

"...The New York Times reported that when Bloomberg was pushing the City Council to revise the city's term limits law, to allow him to run for a third term as mayor, his `aides asked several groups that had received Carnegie grants to lobby for the change publicly'...The change in the law was ultimately approved, allowing Bloomberg to run for a third term in 2009...Bloomberg eked out a narrow victory...He spent $103 million on his final race for office, or about $183 per vote.

"The following year, Bloomberg pulled the plug on the Carnegie grants program for city nonprofits..."


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