Michael Bloomberg Net Worth, Income Sources and How He Achieved It

Michael Bloomberg is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author who has an estimated net worth of $53 billion. 

Boston native and son of an accountant and secretary, Michael Bloomberg is ranked as the ninth richest person in the US and the wealthiest individual in New York. Having attained an enormous net worth of $53 billion, the prominent entrepreneur became the fourteenth richest person across the globe. Beyond being recognized for his business ventures and political activities, Bloomberg is widely known for his large heart and magnanimous spirit. Having achieved such a tremendous financial value coupled with his philanthropic efforts that have summed up to over $8 billion, many have often wondered how Michael Bloomberg achieved his staggering net worth. For this reason, we have compiled interesting details on how the media mogul achieved his net worth.

Michael Bloomberg’s Business Ventures

Michael Bloomberg graduated from John Hopkins University in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. He then enrolled at Harvard Business School and graduated in 1966 with a Masters of Business Administration. Upon earning his MBA, he got recruited by an investment bank called the Salomon Brothers where he reportedly earned a starting salary of $9,000 per annum. Later in 1972, he rose through ranks and was named partner. Three years later, a commodity trading firm, Phibro Corporation bought the company which led to Bloomberg being laid off from the financial institution with a $10 million bond payout.

He then used part of the money to start up his own firm, Innovative Market Solutions (IMS), a financial information technology company. The company was renamed Bloomberg L. P in 1986 and had its first patronage from Merrill Lynch, an American investing and wealth management division of Bank of America. They made a 30% ownership investment in the company as they invested $30 million through the installation of 22 of the company’s Market Master Terminals.

By 1990, Bloomberg L. P which was co-founded by Thomas Secunda, Charles Zegar, and Duncan MacMillan had installed about 8,000 terminals. However, in 1996, Micheal Bloomberg took a heavy leap which ultimately helped him in achieving his net worth – that leap was buying Merrill Lynch’s 30% stake in the company for $200 million and they reportedly sold their remaining 20% stake to the company for $4.43 billion in 2008. As a result, the accomplished entrepreneur now has an 88% stake in the company which has been bringing in no less than $10 billion in revenue annually since 2018. The company has nearly 20,000 employees in 176 locations in 120 countries.

Michael Bloomberg’s wealth has grown massively over the years as its core revenue-generating product, Bloomberg Terminal which is a computer software system has garnered over 325,000 terminal subscribers across the globe. Bloomberg L. P has also launched other ancillary products such as Bloomberg News – a wire service, Bloomberg Television – a global television network, Bloomberg Radio Stations along with its subscription-only newsletters and two magazines called, Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg Markets.

Through the revenues from Bloomberg L. P and it’s ancillary products, the media magnate has skyrocketed his net worth to a staggering sum of $53 billion which makes him one of the wealthiest individuals across the globe.

Political Career

How Michael Bloomberg achieved his Net Worth
Michael Bloomberg with the former US President, Barack Obama
(image source)

Although Michael Bloomberg achieved the majority of his net worth through his business ventures, he also pocketed a trifling sum of money during his long stint as the Mayor of New York. In 2001, he gave up his position as the Chief Executive Officer of Bloomberg L. P and appointed Lex Fenwick as CEO in his stead, in order to run for the position of Mayor of New York.

Following his victory in the 2001 mayoral election, Bloomberg spent three tenures on the seat. During his administration, he took the same data-driven approach that had benefited him in the private sector and applied it to the City government. As a result, he was named one of the most successful New York Mayors in the history of the City.

It is noteworthy that the budget overseen by New York City Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget is the largest municipal budget in the United States at $92 billion. Even though Michael Bloomberg was paid an annual salary of $258,750, he only took just $1 a year and gave up $2.7 million of his mayoral salary over the 12 years he served.

Key Facts About Michael Bloomberg:

  1. Michael Bloomberg is an American entrepreneur and politician with a net worth of $58 billion as of the time of this writing
  2. Bloomberg is the founder of financial information and media company Bloomberg LP, which he put seed funding into and owns 88% of the business.
  3. He started his career on Wall Street in 1966 with an entry-level job at investment bank Salomon Brothers, where he worked for 15 years before being fired.
  4. A philanthropist, he has donated over $12.7 billion to causes such as gun control, climate change, and education.
  5. Bloomberg announced a run for president in November 2019, but dropped out of the race in March 2020 after spending hundreds of millions of dollars to defeat Donald Trump in 2020.
  6. He served as the mayor of New York City for 12 years, making him one of just four individuals to have served that long.
  7. Bloomberg was born on February 14, 1942, in Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1964 with a degree in electrical engineering, followed by an MBA from Harvard Business School.
  8. He launched Innovative Market Systems in 1981, which became Bloomberg LP, and within a year Merrill Lynch ordered $30 million worth of Innovative’s “Market Master” terminals, the precursors to Bloomberg Terminals.
  9. As of this writing, there are over 300,000 Bloomberg Terminals around the world, with a single terminal costing over $20,000 per year without bulk discount.
  10. Bloomberg’s net worth is primarily derived from the estimated value of his privately-held company Bloomberg LP, which generates over $10 billion per year in revenue and is worth an estimated $60-70 billion.
Chioma Uchenwoke
Chioma Uchenwoke
With several years of experience as a writer - I bring an interesting mix of skills to each project that allows me to create compelling content tailored specifically for personal bios, entertainment topics and travel

Recommended

Featured Today

Featured Today

Related Stories