michael bloomberg yacht

Occasional Planet

Progressive Voices Speaking Out

Mega-yachts for the mega-rich, and the Cayman connection

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Spend a little time on the Ft. Lauderdale water taxi and you’ll soon get a feel for the world of the 1% of the 1%. As you drift along you will see row upon row of mega-yachts – sleek vessels, 80 feet, 120 feet, 200 feet or longer in length. According to the City of Ft. Lauderdale, about 1,500 mega yachts visit annually. There are some 100 marinas housing 42,000 resident yachts.

Among all of the craft that dominate the view, one stands out. It’s 282 feet long. It has a black hull and a huge equipment mast. According to a story in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel ,

It boasts luxury amenities for 12 guests, with a crew of 26. There is a large master stateroom with a study and private deck, a helipad, indoor cinema and an infinity pool with a 15-foot glass wall that converts to a movie screen so the director and his guests can take in a film while swimming.

The Seven Seas is the personal toy of Steven Spielberg . The cost? Just $200 million. The flag on its stern? Cayman Islands. Why is that?

The reason so many American yachts fly non-American flags has a whole lot to do with tax and employment laws and United States Coast Guard regulations.

According to Power and Motoryacht Magazine , U.S.-registered yachts must be staffed by American citizens who have obtained USCG certification. What’s more, the yacht owners must actually comply with U.S. employment tax laws. Of course, it’s much cheaper for them to register in a friendly country and hire foreign nationals.

Power and Motoryacht Magazine further points out that U.S.-registered yachts also are required to meet USCG regulations for firefighting, safety equipment and staffing. These regulations insure that a yacht is safe for both passengers and crew. All of that boosts the cost of ownership and operation.

Spielberg is not alone. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s yacht is registered in the Caymans. So is Larry Ellison’s (CEO of Oracle and ninth richest man in the world). Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s yacht Octopus also flies the red Cayman flag. In fact, most U.S.-owned mega-yachts are registered in the Cayman Islands and other tax-friendly countries.

Safety, decent pay, fair taxes? That must be too high of a price for the mega-rich to pay.

Maybe I’m just envious, but I can’t wrap my head around what one might do with a 282-foot, $200-million yacht. Do a little fishing? Enjoy the ocean breezes? Escape from the drudgery of the workaday world? Maybe.

But then again there’s sea level rise waiting at the doorsteps of the ostentatious $10-million mansions that line the Ft. Lauderdale waterways. Perhaps escape is what those yachts are really for after all.

[Editor’s update, February 2016: One billionaire’s mega-yacht recently made news when its anchor destroyed a section of an endangered coral reef in the Cayman Islands. Read about it here .]

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In His Helicopter, Bloomberg Can Rule Skies, and Even Get to Albany

By Christine Haughney

• April 12, 2012

Among all the high-flying toys that a billionaire can buy, the futuristic AgustaWestland AW609 Tiltrotor , a hybrid helicopter-plane, is as coveted a trinket as they come. Forty people have lined up to buy the aircraft, which is modeled on the V22 Osprey used in the military. It maneuvers like a helicopter, but with the speed and altitude of a plane.

It will not be ready until 2016, and the price has not even been established — though estimates place it between $5 million and $30 million. And near the top of the ultraexclusive waiting list is one Michael R. Bloomberg.

Private jets have practically become de rigueur among the elite; everyone who is anyone either owns one or charters one regularly. Mayor Bloomberg is no exception: his trips to Bermuda aboard his private jet often fill in the blanks on weekends when he has no public schedule.

But his passion for flying and owning helicopters puts him in a rarefied circle, occupied by the likes of Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford and Gisele Bündchen.

Mr. Bloomberg, it turns out, is a fan of copters: he does not merely enjoy flying in them, he is obsessive about piloting them himself. His fellow pilots have seen how he delights in a helicopter’s mechanical quirks and how quick he is to compare notes about the latest gadgets or a trusted mechanic.

“People who experience this, it’s a dance,” said the crime fiction writer Patricia Cornwell, who flies her own helicopter and has talked with the mayor about the joys of flying one around New York. “It’s not take off, go straight and land.”

“You take someone like the mayor, this is a really handy thing,” Ms. Cornwell added. “It’s a bird’s-eye view of America from your cockpit.”

Through his company, Mr. Bloomberg owns a $4.5 million, six-seat Agusta SPA A109S helicopter, which he keeps at the Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey with his private planes, according to records.

There is no public data for how often the mayor flies his helicopter, but those familiar with his travel patterns said he had taken it to Albany and the Hamptons, among other destinations. His up-in-the-air celebrity is such that other pilots recognize his tail number, but Mr. Bloomberg has blocked public aircraft-tracking systems from tracing his exact aerial whereabouts. He is typically accompanied by a pilot, Toby Wilson, whose primary job is to fly the helicopter to New York to collect the mayor, or fly it back to New Jersey once the mayor has gotten off.

The helicopter can come in handy during the work day.

On the morning of March 16, a thick fog shrouded the city, causing huge delays at La Guardia Airport, where the mayor and several lawmakers were waiting to travel to Albany for a news conference on state pension reform. So Mr. Bloomberg offered to fly his guests, who included James P. Molinaro, the Staten Island borough president; Thomas M. Roach, the mayor of White Plains; a mayoral aide, Micah C. Lasher; and a security officer, in his helicopter instead.

As the mayor took the controls and steered north, he pointed out the Catskills and asked his passengers if they felt airsick. Mr. Molinaro, who previously flew Navy helicopters, said he was impressed with the mayor’s skills, especially during the landing.

“He came down nice and slow,” Mr. Molinaro said. “It was like you were just sliding. There wasn’t even a bounce.”

When Mr. Molinaro told Mr. Bloomberg how much smoother the flight was than some he had taken with the military, the mayor replied: “It’s not the plane. It’s the pilot.”

Things have not always gone perfectly. Back in 1976, when Mr. Bloomberg was training to become a pilot, he nearly encountered disaster as he flew alone off the coast of Connecticut.

“I wasn’t sure what was going on in the engine compartment behind me, but I certainly knew I was falling and couldn’t breathe. I was going down,” he wrote in his autobiography. He landed on an island and ultimately put out the helicopter fire himself.

“Was I scared?” he wrote. “Well, there’d been no time for any emotion when I was in the air, and on the ground I was safe. So the answer is no — unless of course you count the internal shaking I couldn’t stop for the rest of the day.”

There have been other hiccups.

In October 2004, officials with the Meadowlands Sports Complex denied Mr. Bloomberg’s request to fly his helicopter to a Jets game and encouraged him to take the bus from the Port Authority Bus Terminal. In January 2002, when he was criticized for taking the controls of a police helicopter to attend Adolfo Carrión Jr.’s inauguration as borough president in the Bronx, he defended himself, saying, “I fly helicopters more sophisticated than that all the time that I happen to own.”

Mr. Bloomberg declined to be interviewed for this article. But Ms. Cornwell, the crime author, said he “made it very clear to me that he doesn’t like to give up the controls to anyone else.”

Some public officials, like Representative Jerrold L. Nadler, fear that Mr. Bloomberg’s passion could cloud his judgment on how he handles issues of helicopter safety in the crowded New York airspace. After a fatal crash in the East River in October, the mayor defended the safety record of helicopters.

“There’s three or four deaths in automobile accidents every single week in this city,” he said then. “Nobody’s suggesting you’re going to ban automobiles.”

Mr. Ford, the actor, said the mayor once lent him his AgustaWestland helicopter to pick up his daughter from summer camp; the favor was in return for once borrowing Mr. Ford’s Gulfstream jet.

Mr. Ford and Mr. Bloomberg also shared a relationship with Mr. Wilson: the mayor’s frequent co-pilot had given flying lessons to Mr. Ford. (Mr. Wilson also has flown Malcolm Forbes’s helicopter off his yacht.)

The mayor is a gracious host aboard his helicopter. One passenger said that on a flight, the mayor asked his passengers if they wanted coffee, and then proceeded to pour some from a Thermos into a Styrofoam cup. He then said, “Do you need milk with that?” before returning to speaking flight jargon with his co-pilot.

A sense of superiority can creep into the way the mayor speaks about helicopter flying versus other forms of travel. Hours after he arrived in Albany last month with Mr. Roach and the other passengers, he held a news conference and thanked Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for signing the pension reform legislation. He then singled out two people on his staff: Mr. Lasher, who accompanied the mayor on the helicopter, and Timothy F. Mulligan, the mayor’s fiscal director, who did not.

Mr. Mulligan, the mayor dryly noted, was “still, last I checked, No. 44 in line at La Guardia to try to get off and come here.”

Michael M. Grynbaum contributed reporting.

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Climate Nanny Bloomberg Owns Fleet Of Private Jets, Choppers

Bloomberg, who has pledged to end the American coal industry, has for years flown around the world to his multiple million-dollar mansions in the comfort of his own private jets and helicopters — ditching commercial flights and trains that working and middle-class Americans use to travel.

In 2012, the New York Times detailed how Bloomberg would jet to his $10 million Bermuda mansion in his $42 million Dassault Falcon 900 private plane about twice a month on the weekends while he was mayor of New York City:

Private jets have practically become de rigueur among the elite ; everyone who is anyone either owns one or charters one regularly. Mayor Bloomberg is no exception: his trips to Bermuda aboard his private jet often fill in the blanks on weekends when he has no public schedule. [Emphasis added]

Inside Sources described in January how Bloomberg’s private jet likely “generates an estimated 37 times more carbon emissions than the same trip on a commercial flight.”

As for Bloomberg’s $7 million AgustaWestland AW109, the helicopter “burns a jaw-dropping 72 gallons of fuel every hour,” according to the report.

Since the early 2010s , Bloomberg has been on an exclusive waiting list to get his hands on the AgustaWestland AW609 Tiltrotor helicopter, worth anywhere between $5 million and $30 million.

It is not just private jets and helicopters that Bloomberg favors, it is also yachts. In 2014, the New York Times reported that Bloomberg chartered a two-story yacht through the waters near Turkey:

After his breakfast with the anti-tobacco activists, Mr. Bloomberg kicked back on a huge two-story yacht procured by staff members to take him from his hotel on the Bosporus to the next event on his schedule: commencement remarks to be delivered at Koc University , an elite institution founded by the billionaire Rahmi Koc, his friend and fellow alumnus from Johns Hopkins University. [Emphasis added]

According to Business Insider, Bloomberg once owned  14 properties and homes around the world, including an Upper East Side five-story mansion which he renovated for nearly $2 million, a $25 million London, England, mansion, and a $20 million estate in Southampton.

Bloomberg’s efforts to eliminate the coal industry in the U.S. would decimate the jobs and livelihood of about 52,600 American coal miners who have prospered in President Trump’s “America First” economy.

Thanks to Trump’s pro-American energy agenda, the coal industry has stabilized, according to United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts.

Read more at Breitbart

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Big Tech CEOs Support Paris Climate Accord, Repeat Fake Weather Stats

Your typical Do As I say Not As I Do liberals the former head worm of the Big Apple demands we all live a simple life why this turkey flies all over the globe just about like John Travolta who owns and flies a 707 and Leonardo DiCaprio how they think their so better then the rest of us

Wow…good to see you’re still around after all these years and still fighting. Good comment .

Trudeau used two 737’s during the recent campaign. He claimed it was perfectly acceptable because he used taxpayer money to buy some sort of carbon credits, likely from Soros or Gore.

Mr. Dress up needs room for his costumes and make-up department . The school girl gossip scene filmed by CBC was planned and approved as any government subsidiary would do . Full front face shot , raised voice to mock the President of the USA . Very stupid .

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Self-Declared Climate ‘Global Leader’ Mike Bloomberg Enjoys His Own Fleet of Private Jets, Helicopters

• By Marc Morano
• December 5, 2019

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/04/self-declared-climate-change-global-leader-mike-bloomberg-enjoys-his-own-fleet-of-private-jets-helicopters/

By JOHN BINDER

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, worth an estimated $54 billion, enjoys his own fleet of private jets and helicopters stationed in New Jersey while describing himself as a “global leader” on the environment and climate change.

Bloomberg, who has  pledged  to end the American coal industry, has for years flown around the world to his multiple million-dollar mansions in the comfort of his own private jets and helicopters — ditching commercial flights and trains that working and middle-class Americans use to travel.

In 2012, the  New York Times   detailed  how Bloomberg would jet to his $10 million Bermuda mansion in his $42 million Dassault Falcon 900 private plane about twice a month on the weekends while he was mayor of New York City:

Private jets have practically become de rigueur among the elite ; everyone who is anyone either owns one or charters one regularly.  Mayor Bloomberg is no exception: his trips to Bermuda aboard his private jet often fill in the blanks on weekends  when he has no public schedule. [Emphasis added]

Inside Sources  described  in January how Bloomberg’s private jet likely “generates an estimated 37 times more carbon emissions than the same trip on a commercial flight.” As for Bloomberg’s $7 million AgustaWestland AW109, the helicopter “burns a jaw-dropping 72 gallons of fuel every hour,” according to the report.

Since the  early 2010s , Bloomberg has been on an exclusive waiting list to get his hands on the AgustaWestland AW609 Tiltrotor helicopter, worth anywhere between $5 million and $30 million.

It is not just private jets and helicopters that Bloomberg favors, it is also yachts. In 2014, the  New York Times   reported  that Bloomberg chartered a two-story yacht through the waters near Turkey:

After his breakfast with the anti-tobacco activists,  Mr. Bloomberg kicked back on a huge two-story yacht procured by staff members to take him from his hotel on the Bosporus to the next event on his schedule: commencement remarks to be delivered at Koc University , an elite institution founded by the billionaire Rahmi Koc, his friend and fellow alumnus from Johns Hopkins University. [Emphasis added]

According to Business Insider, Bloomberg once  owned  14 properties and homes around the world, including an Upper East Side five-story mansion which he renovated for nearly $2 million, a $25 million London, England, mansion, and a $20 million estate in Southampton.

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The life of Michael Bloomberg: How an unemployed 39-year-old banker became a billionaire, 3-time mayor of New York, and former presidential hopeful

• Michael Bloomberg has dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic ticket.
• The 77-year-old billionaire philanthropist spent 15 years working in finance, before getting fired when he was 39. With the severance check, he co-started his own IT firm, which he called Bloomberg LP.
• It was a success, and he expanded it to cover the media. Fifteen years later he was a billionaire. But that wasn't enough, so  he entered politics.
• In 2002, he was elected mayor of New York City, and kept the post for 12 years.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

Michael Bloomberg is not your typical billionaire.

On Wednesday, he announced he was dropping out of the 2020 presidential race after he took a clobbering on Super Tuesday, when he only won in American Samoa.

He campaigned for months and spent more than $500 million on advertising why he should be the next president. It's a lot of money, but only a fraction of his $64 billion fortune .

Bloomberg wasn't born into money. He was raised modestly in suburban Boston, before he rose through the ranks of New York's financial world, only to get fired at the age of 39.

That same year, using his IT expertise and a healthy chunk of his severance pay, he started Bloomberg LP, which provided data to financial traders. The service was a success, and 15 years later, along with starting his own media company, he became a billionaire.

But that wasn't enough for Bloomberg. He entered politics and served as New York City mayor for over a decade, earning only $1 a year. During his tenure he identified as a Republican and an independent .

As Chris Smith wrote for New York Magazine , "Instead of using his money to withdraw from the messiness of the everyday world, Bloomberg has thrust himself ever more into it." And while Bloomberg is a liberal, his "real religion has always been pragmatism."

He has pledged half of his fortune to charity after his death. Bloomberg Philanthropies says he's already donated more than $6 billion to various causes over the years.

Here's a look back at Bloomberg's life to date, in photos.

Michael Bloomberg was born on February 14, 1942. He grew up in a family of four in Medford, Massachusetts, a blue-collar suburb of Boston.

His Polish immigrant father worked seven days a week as an accountant , while his mother worked as a secretary.

In 1964, he graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in mechanical engineering. During his studies, he worked part-time at a parking lot, and was president of his fraternity. In 1966, he received an MBA from Harvard University.

Sources: Politifact , MichaelBloomberg2020 , Politico

In 1966, he moved to New York and started work at Salomon Brothers, an investment bank. His first role was down in a vault known as "The Cage" counting stocks.

He didn't stay down for long . By the time he was 30 in 1972, he had made partner working in sales and trading.

In 1976, while working his way up, Bloomberg married Susan Brown.

Sources: The New York Times , The New York Times

They had two daughters — Georgina Bloomberg, now a professional equestrian rider, and Emma Bloomberg, who works in non-profits. The couple later divorced in 1993.

According to a 2001 interview in The New York Times with Emma, her parents remained best friends.

In 1979, Bloomberg was moved to the IT department. It was not a promotion. IT wasn't a glamorous sector, since it was removed from the glory of trades and deals. But it was there he learned about computers.

Sources: The Gentleman's Journal , The New York Times

In 1981, when Salomon merged with another company called Phibro, Bloomberg was fired. He was 39 years old. He had spent 15 years working 12-hour-days, six-days a week. But he had to walk away.

He was helped along by a $10 million payout .

"Afterward, I didn't sit around wondering what was happening at the old firm. I didn't go back and visit. I never look over my shoulder. Once finished: Gone. Life continues!" he wrote in his memoir titled " Bloomberg ", which was published in 1997 .

According to the biography on him " Mike Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics" by Joyce Purnick , at one point he told his bosses, "I could run the goddamn company better."

Bloomberg wasn't embarrassed about being fired, but he worried his wife would be ashamed about the loss of status, or his ability to support his family. So the week he was fired he ordered her a sable fur coat from Third Avenue.

"A sable jacket seemed to say, "No sweat. We can still eat. We're still players," he wrote in " Bloomberg ."

That same year, using $4 million from the Salomon payout, he co-created Bloomberg LP, a financial services company. He knew that traders needed reliable data, and decided his company would be the one to provide it.

He saw that computers would revolutionize Wall Street, and was one of the first to capitalize on it.

According to his website , the provision of this information was a way to "democratize financial information, empowering investors and smaller firms and result in dramatically improved returns for pensioners and retirees."

The company's first customer was Merrill Lynch .

Bloomberg still owns 88% of the company. In 2018, it bought in $10 billion in revenue , employing nearly 20,000 people in 120 countries.

In 1986, he bought a five-story townhouse in the Upper East Side of Manhattan for $3.5 million. It became his home base and a venue for dinner parties.

According to New York Magazine , these dinner parties "were often pretentious in their unpretentiousness." Bloomberg served things like fried chicken and coleslaw.

At one point in 2013,  Bloomberg owned 14 properties worldwide , with homes everywhere from New York to London to Bermuda.

Due to the success of the company, he branched out into the news media. In 1990, he launched Bloomberg News, with 50 reporters spread out in key cities like Tokyo, London, and Toronto. In 1994, he launched Bloomberg TV.

Sources: Politico , The Gentleman's Journal

In 1995, Bloomberg joined the ranks of billionaires. Money was flowing. As well as his property purchases, Bloomberg was donating hundreds of millions of dollars. But it wasn't enough to satisfy him.

That same year he donated $55 million to John Hopkins, a sizeable chunk of the $1 billion he has donated to the university, according to Politico . The John Hopkins School of Public Health was renamed after Bloomberg, because of the donations.

According to New York Magazine , Bloomberg told the school's dean Alfred Somner that he needed another challenge, and it wasn't building another company. "I don't need any more money. Where can I make a difference?" he said.

News anchor Barbara Walters, one of Bloomberg's close friends, told New York Magazine, "This was not a man who used his money because he was going to take us all out on a yacht."

Source: New York Magazine

According to Boston College professor Paul Schervish, Bloomberg had "conquered the business world, but he still had in his soul this command to use his talents and his will in another arena."

In 2000, Bloomberg, until then a Democrat, registered as a Republican. A month later, he hosted an election night party with magazine editor Tina Brown and (now disgraced) movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

They invited hundreds of friends to a restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side. When  The New York Times asked at the party if he wanted to spend his 60s standing over wounded New York police officers as mayor, he responded, "I'd like to prevent cops from getting shot."

According to The Times , he became a Republican because if he'd remained a Democrat he would have lost in a mayoral primary.

He also met Diana Taylor in 2000. Taylor was the unofficial first lady during his time as mayor and later served as the New York State superintendent of banks. Both parties have said marriage won't be in the cards.

Source: The New York Times

In 2000, he bought his daughter, Georgina, a $3.6 million equestrian estate in Westchester County's North Salem. It was once used as an exercise ground for circus elephants.

Adjacent to his daughter's house is a $4.55 million home he purchased in 2012.

He bought the house so his daughter Georgina, a competitive horse jumper, could keep her horses there.

But when he tried to extend a special-use permit from six horses to 20, several neighbors complained, arguing renovations could harm the environment, property values, and "bring a pervasive smell" to the neighborhood, according to The New York Times .

Bloomberg campaigned for mayor. But in an unusual move, at a press conference where former Republican Gov. George Pataki endorsed him, Bloomberg repeatedly said, "I'm a liberal. I'm a liberal. I'm a liberal. I'm a LIBERAL."

It didn't matter. In 2002, he was elected mayor of New York, narrowly beating Democrat candidate Mark Green. He stepped down from running his company, and over the next 12 years earned $1 a year.

Sources: Business Insider , Wall Street Journal , The New York Times , The New York Times

He held more than 80 public forums during his first three-year tenure as mayor, and seemed to be, according to New York Magazine, "a one man complaint department."

His tenure had a number of positives — he led the city through its recovery after 9/11. He helped the city's finances by raising property taxes and cutting down city services. His administration introduced Citi Bikes and banned smoking in restaurants.

Sources: The New York Times , City & State NY

One of his big focuses was gun control. In 2002, he announced a gun buy-back program. Anyone who provided information about an illegal handgun would be rewarded $1,000.

In 2006, he also co-founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which later became Everytown for Guns Safety.

The environment was another one of his priorities. To protect the city's drinking water, he had the city buy a large piece of land in the Catskill mountains to ensure development didn't contaminate water.

His administration also spent billions cleaning waterways and wetlands , creating parks, and planting trees.

His tenure had its negatives. One of the things he's most often criticized for was defending police commissioner Ray Kelly's push to get police to "stop and frisk" people.

The policy has been called racist, because the police did stop and frisks primarily in high-crime areas, disproportionately impacting African American and Hispanic people. In 2002, there were about 97,000 stops; by 2011 there were 685,000 .

A district court declared the methods unconstitutional in 2013.

His politics weren't entirely traditional. According to New York Magazine, one "endearing habit" of Bloomberg's was to explain some "spin" and then a moment later undercut that spin by explaining how it might not be as accurate as it seemed.

But something was working, because in 2005, Bloomberg beat former Bronx Borough president Fernando Ferrer by nearly 20 percentage points. Bloomberg won in all of the boroughs except the Bronx.

Sources: The Guardian , Gothamist

In 2005, he also had one of his biggest losses as mayor — the state legislature wouldn't approve the West Side Stadium, a proposed massive stadium in Manhattan.

In 2007, Bloomberg announced he was leaving the Republican Party to become an independent. The move triggered speculation that he would run for president in 2008.

In a statement released about his change, he said, "Any successful elected executive knows that real results are more important than partisan battles and that good ideas should take precedence over rigid adherence to any particular political ideology."

Instead, he ran again for mayor. Before Bloomberg, there had been a two-term limit for New York mayors, but he campaigned to change the law, won, and went on to serve a third term.

The New York Times said he " strong-armed " the city council into letting him have a third term.

And while he was re-elected in 2009 , he only beat the city comptroller Bill Thompson narrowly, winning with 50.7% of the vote.

During his tenure as mayor, his wealth played a defining role. It allowed some things to happen that otherwise wouldn't have been possible.

For instance, police commissioner Ray Kelly said after a meeting in Miami, one of Bloomberg's planes had a problem, so they simply got on his other plane.

Bloomberg also spoke to New York Magazine about readily using his wealth to achieve his end-goals, including to help win elections.

"If you really believe that you're making a difference and that you can leave a legacy of better schools and jobs and safer streets, why would you not spend the money? The objective is to improve the schools, bring down crime, build affordable housing, clean the streets—not to have a fair fight."

Another interesting aspect of his wealth was how he allowed it to be scrutinized. Bloomberg let reporters review his annual tax returns and financial disclosures, but not copy them, because he was concerned giving away too much would benefit his competitors.

In 2011, he purchased a Hamptons home, called "Ballyshear." The estate's 35 acres and 22,000-square-foot house had an asking price of $22.5 million. He also owns a neighboring house and another 4.8-acre plot of vacant land.

Source: Business Insider

In 2012, Bloomberg tried to combat obesity by banning soda and sugary drinks in cups more than 16 ounces — at least in restaurants, cinemas, and street carts.

It would have been the first city in America to enforce such a ban , but it was struck down by the New York Supreme Court, and again on appeal in 2014. The idea was widely derided on late night talk shows.

Though nutrition was one of his signature issues as mayor, he had been chided for not following his own advice. He loves Cheez-Its, puts salt on everything (even pizza), and drinks three to four cups of coffee a day.

The manager at Viand, a Greek diner near Bloomberg's Upper East Side townhouse, told The New York Times he liked so much salt on his bagel, "it's like a pretzel."

He also made headlines for recommending going to the toilet less to get more done .

In 2013, after the Boston Marathon bombing, Bloomberg called for constitutional privacy protections to be weakened, according to The Atlantic.

"We have to understand that in the world going forward," he said , "we're going to have more cameras and that kind of stuff. That's good in some senses, but it's different than what we are used to. And the people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry, but we live in a complex world where you're going to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution I think have to change."

That same year, he was succeeded by current mayor Bill de Blasio. The New York Post wrote that his impact would be most-felt through his pro-health policies.

"In his three terms, Nanny Bloomberg waged war on salt and soda, banned smoking in parks and pushed breast-feeding by having hospitals hide the formula," the Post wrote.

The New York Times was less critical, and said after Bloomberg left he would "bequeath a litany of record-shattering statistics on crime reduction, sidewalk safety and skyline-altering construction."

It also noted that while usually "the city paid its mayor; Mr. Bloomberg paid to be the city's mayor." It estimated he had spent $650 million of his own money on things related to running the city, like campaigning and travel costs.

A portion of that went on keeping fish alive. Bloomberg loves marine life. While he was at City Hall, he had two enormous tanks installed, and spent $62,400 of his own money a week to maintain them.

In 2014, eight months after stepping down as mayor, he resumed control of Bloomberg LP. With his return, former CEO Daniel Doctoroff stepped down.

Doctoroff told The New York Times , "Mike is kind of like God at the company. He created the universe. He issued the Ten Commandments and then he disappeared. And then he came back. You have to understand that when God comes back, things are going to be different. When God reappeared, people defer."

In 2014, Queen Elizabeth II made Bloomberg an honorary knight for his "prodigious entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors." Since he's not British he can't call himself "sir."

Source: The Telegraph

He owns two houses in London — a city he's referred to as his second home. The first, which Bloomberg has owned for a while, is in the exclusive borough of Knightsbridge. It's reportedly filled with American art.

Sources: New York Magazine , New York Daily News

He bought a second London home was for $25 million in 2015. It sits along the River Thames and was once owned by novelist George Eliot.

Although he was out of public service, Bloomberg continued to donate. Bloomberg Philanthropies says he has donated more than $6 billion to a variety of charitable causes over the years.

In 2015, he gave $100 million to Cornell's technology campus on New York's Roosevelt Island. The university won a competition put on by the city while Bloomberg was still mayor to build an applied sciences campus on the island. It was named "The Bloomberg Center," after his daughters.

He's an avid skier and owns a top floor unit in the Mountain Haus ski resort in Vail, Colorado. He's also a member of the exclusive Game Creek Club, a restaurant located midway down a ski slope.

Another of his international abodes is in Bermuda, where it's notoriously hard for non-natives to purchase a home. In the comfort of his private jet, he can get to his Bermuda house from New York City in two hours.

Cab drivers in the area often compete to drive him, as he is a very good tipper, according to The New York Times .

Bloomberg has his own private jets — including a trijet Dassault Falcon 900B.

Source: Wall Street Journal

He's also passionate about helicopters. He owns a six-seat Agusta SPA A109S — which he is fond of flying — worth $4.5 million. Bloomberg is said to be an excellent pilot and received his flying license in 1976.

His love of aircrafts doesn't stop there. He's one of 50 who have "expressed interest" in owning an Agusta Westland AW609 Tilt-rotor, a futuristic plane and helicopter hybrid. The company plans to deliver the first units in 2020.

Sources: The New York Times , Airway1

As for suiting, his closet is filled with threads made by legendary Brooklyn tailor Martin Greenfield.

Source: New York Daily News

In 2016, Bloomberg's political roots re-emerged when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention.

Source: Politifact

In 2017, he published "Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet." He has donated $650 million to fund the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, and positioned himself as a global leader pushing for climate action.

Sources: Politifact , InsideClimate News , The New York Times

In 2018, he officially registered as a Democrat. In the elections that year, he was the second-largest donor, contributing about $95 million, almost entirely to Democrats.

Sources: Politifact , OpenSecrets

In November, his adviser Howard Wolfson told The Guardian that Bloomberg thought President Donald Trump was an "unprecedented threat" to America, and the Democrat presidential candidates didn't have what it took to beat him.

Source: The Guardian

At the end of November, Bloomberg announced he was running for president. It was a late entry — five Democrat debates had already been held.

"Defeating Donald Trump — and rebuilding America — is the most urgent and important fight of our lives. And I'm going all in," Bloomberg told The New York Times . "I offer myself as a doer and a problem solver — not a talker. And someone who is ready to take on the tough fights — and win."

He's previously contemplated running in 2016 while he was an independent, and earlier in 2019.

Within the first week of entering the race, he spent $30 million, the most a candidate has ever spent in a week in a primary, and by the end of the first month, he had spent over $100 million on TV ads alone.

After he entered the race, he apologized for supporting the "stop-and-frisk" policy while he was New York's mayor.

Source: The Nation

He also advised Bloomberg Media not to investigate any Democrat candidate, including himself. He told CBS News, "They get a paycheck. But with your paycheck comes some restrictions and responsibilities."

Source: NBC News

In November, Business Insider published a report delving into decades of court records about the culture of Bloomberg LP, which has been described as a sexualized, predatory environment.

The reporting showed that Bloomberg permitted his company to become — in the words of one former employee — a "reckless playground" for male senior executives to "target young, female, naive employees" for sex.

Bloomberg's spokesperson said the comments were unfortunate episodes from decades ago, but the company faces five active discrimination complaints.

Read the full story here »

In december, bloomberg moved his expanding campaign team, of 300 staffers, to a new space in times square. he has 200 more staff members around the country..

He said when he was president he'd turn the White House's East Room into an open plan office, where he'd work beside his team, and that he'd never use the Oval Office for tweeting.

The new office also has countdown clocks ticking down to Super Tuesday and the General Election. This is because he's skipping the first four states in his unusual campaign to be the next president of the United States.

Over the next few months, he had an advertising blitz. By February 18, he spent $338.7 million, from his $64 billion fortune. Insider's Eliza Relman reported that was more than Barack Obama spent for his entire 2012 campaign.

Sources: Business Insider , Business Insider

On February 19, he had his first debate alongside his Democrat rivals. Going into the debate, polls had him at third place for the nomination. He instantly came under fire — about his time as mayor, Republican donations, racial profiling, what he's said about women, and claims of harassment at his company.

His fiercest critic of the night was Sen. Elizabeth Warren , who said early on, "I want to talk about who we're running against: a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians . And no I'm not talking about Donald Trump — I'm talking about Mayor Bloomberg."

On Twitter, he wrote afterwards that he had shared a stage with politicians who talked "because that's what they're good at." He continued: "I have built. I have created actual change. I have gotten it done. That's what I'll do for America."

Source:  Twitter

Directly after the debate, the odds of him becoming the next Democratic candidate had fallen to 19%. But he was back on the campaign trail the following day. And at his second debate on February 25, he did better, even if he was far from the strongest presence.

Sources : The New York Times , Business Insider , Wall Street Journal

Bloomberg was banking on succeeding on March 3, known as Super Tuesday, because it has 14 primaries. Since he skipped the first four primaries, he had to do well to stay in the race. But he only won in America Samoa.

On March 4, he announced he was dropping out of the race and officially endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden, because he said Biden had the best shot at beating Trump.

"I've known Joe for a very long time. I know his decency, his honesty, and his commitment to the issues that are so important to our country — including gun safety, health care, climate change, and good jobs," Bloomberg said in a statement announcing the end of his campaign.

• Main content

The Dictator’s Son Wanted His Yacht Back. That’s When Trouble Started for Two Oilmen.

Vice President Teodorin “Teddy” Nguema Obiang was in a mood for payback.

The Obiangs have run the oil-rich Central African country of Equatorial Guinea like a family ATM since 1979, accumulating mansions in Paris and Malibu, Ferraris and Bugattis, and at least three superyachts, according to court documents. And now a South African court was seizing Nguema Obiang’s two high-end Cape Town villas and the Blue Shadow, the yacht that carries his jet-ski collection while he vacations on one of the other two.

He lashed out at “racist scammers” and “white slaver lawyers from Cape Town.” He threatened to bar South African ships from Equatorial Guinea’s waters and South African planes from its airspace.

Days later, Equatorial Guinean police arrested two South African oil workers, accused them of trafficking cocaine and threw them in prison. The men’s family members, employers and U.S. officials say their arrest was direct retaliation against South Africa by Nguema Obiang, son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and de facto head of the country’s feared security services.

“This is something that Teodorin is known to do,” says Mark L. Asquino, a former U.S. ambassador to Equatorial Guinea and now a senior adviser to Horizon Engage, a New York-based political risk consulting firm. “He can be quite vengeful.”

A year on, the oil workers, Frederik Potgieter, 54 years old, and Peter Huxham, 55, remain in an isolated prison in a forest clearing deep in the Central African hinterlands.

Equatorial Guinea’s ambassador in Washington says that, as far as the government is concerned, justice is being done to a pair of drug dealers in a case that has nothing to do with the vice president’s assets. But he also hints the Obiangs might be open to a trade.

State hostages

The world has recently seen a spate of state-sponsored hostage-takings, with governments using humans as pawns in diplomatic negotiations.

Venezuela, for instance, recently freed 10 Americans for President Nicolás Maduro’s moneyman, who was facing money-laundering charges in Miami. Last year, the U.S. recovered five Americans jailed in Iran in exchange for several Iranians held in the U.S. and the release of $6 billion in seized Iranian oil revenue.

Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan has been imprisoned in Russia since 2018, and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been held in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison for more than a year. Both have been accused in separate cases of espionage, allegations they deny, and the U.S. government has declared them wrongfully detained.

The Biden administration lists nine countries, from Nicaragua and North Korea to Iran and China, where U.S. citizens face an elevated risk of wrongful detention. Equatorial Guinea isn’t among them.

The imprisonment of oil workers Potgieter and Huxham, family members and U.S. officials say, shows even the smallest countries playing the hostage-taking game, in this case to gain leverage in an international property dispute.

“To us it’s quite clear what’s going on here,” says Shaun Murphy, spokesman for the families.

Oil riches and a strategic spot

The case alarms American officials. For decades, U.S. oil companies have drilled in Equatorial Guinean waters, and diplomats now routinely point to the case of the two South Africans to warn American firms their employees aren’t safe there.

Washington finds itself in a pinch, however. The Biden administration criticizes Equatorial Guinea’s human-rights record. But it is also worried the Obiangs, if at odds with the U.S., might allow China to build a naval base on the Atlantic Ocean. Washington sees the prospect of Chinese warships rearming and refitting at an Atlantic port as a national-security threat.

American officials have limited leverage in the case of the South African oil workers. The men aren’t American citizens. And while they were working on oil ships operated by Exxon Mobil and Chevron, they were employed by a Dutch oil-service company, SBM Offshore.

The story is a convoluted one, in which Potgieter and Huxham find themselves entangled in a legal dispute and diplomatic shouting match that originally had nothing to do with them.

Equatorial Guinea, with a population of 1.5 million, is composed of a series of islands in the Gulf of Guinea, and a rectangular chunk of mainland Africa wedged between Gabon and Cameroon.

Spain’s only sub-Saharan African colony, it gained independence in 1968, and soon fell under the rule of Francisco Macias. Macias declared himself president-for-life under the motto, “In politics, the victor wins and the loser dies.”

He burned the villages of his perceived enemies. His men murdered dozens in a soccer stadium while loudspeakers played the hit, “Those Were the Days.”

In 1979, rebellious troops ousted Macias from power. He escaped with suitcases full of cash, but was captured in the forest. The new junta tried him in a movie theater in Malabo, the capital city. Less than five hours after the guilty verdict, a firing squad executed him at the notorious Black Beach prison.

His nephew, then-Lt. Col. Teodoro Obiang Nguema, seized power and has held it tightly ever since.

Human-rights advocates have accused the senior Obiang of human-rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial imprisonment of his opponents. Diplomats and international law-enforcement agencies say the president and his family helped themselves to public coffers filled by the discovery, in the 1990s, of vast offshore oil deposits.

Among other oil-fuelled projects, the president built a scaled-down version of St. Peter’s Basilica in his hometown, Mongomo, not far from where Potgieter and Huxham are now imprisoned.

But it is his son, Nguema Obiang, commonly known as Teodorin or Teddy, who has displayed his wealth most ostentatiously.

Nguema Obiang graduated from a position as his father’s minister of agriculture and forestry, to second vice president, to first vice president, head of the state security apparatus and heir apparent to the presidency. In many ways, Nguema Obiang is already doing his father’s job, including addressing the United Nations General Assembly in September.

The government touts him as the people’s champion in the fight against corruption and nepotism and he himself has said that his wealth came from legitimate government contracts. “The country cannot move forward with corrupt people,” he wrote last year.

The U.S. Department of Justice accused the younger Obiang of amassing $300 million on a $100,000-a-year ministerial salary “through relentless embezzlement and extortion.” In a 2014 settlement with the federal government, Nguema Obiang surrendered a $30 million cliff-top Malibu mansion, a $530,000 Ferrari 599 GTO and several life-size Michael Jackson statues, part of his large collection of Jackson memorabilia. One federal asset-seizure suit against Nguema Obiang was identified in court documents as “United States of America v. One White Crystal-Covered ‘Bad’ Tour Glove et al.”

In 2021, a French court upheld his conviction for embezzlement and laundering public funds. The court ordered the seizure of €150 million in ill-gotten assets, including a collection of supercars and a mansion on tony Avenue Foch in Paris. He received a suspended three-year prison sentence.

Crisantos Obama Ondo, Equatorial Guinea’s ambassador in Washington, said, “The accusations made against the presidential family of Equatorial Guinea are unacceptable, intolerable, disrespectful and above all unfounded.” The country, he added, has no “wealthy people” at all.

Villas and superyachts

Among the luxuries Nguema Obiang acquired are a seaside villa in Cape Town’s Clifton Beach, originally built for servicemen returning from World War II, and a house in the wealthy Cape Town suburb of Bishopscourt, immaculately kept by staff required to cover their shoes while inside. The two houses are worth an estimated $6 million.

Then there is the Blue Shadow, a 220-foot superyacht.

The boat was originally built for a wealthy Saudi, according to a former crew member. It briefly passed through the hands of an Emirati middleman and, on June 24, 2019, while the yacht was in the Mediterranean, the middleman formally sold it to Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Defense, according to ship documents.

Nguema Obiang soon fired the yacht’s French captain and crew members. His criminal conviction in France still stung, and he didn’t want Frenchmen aboard, according to the former crew member.

That summer, Nguema Obiang hosted shipboard parties as the Blue Shadow cruised around Sardinia, Capri and Sicily, the crew member says.

Nguema Obiang had personal use of two other superyachts, Ice and Ebony Shine, though they were also officially Ministry of Defense property. Blue Shadow served as the supply ship for the other two, carrying water-sports gear and women flown in for parties, mostly from Latin America, according to the crew member.

One Cayman Islands registry document shows the Blue Shadow carrying 24 smaller watercraft, including 15 jet skis; a 36-foot fishing boat that lists for $400,000; a James Bondesque Gibbs Quadski, which converts from an off-road vehicle into a jet ski with the press of a button; and a Seabreacher, a craft that can race along the surface at 60 miles an hour, dive 5 feet underwater, breach the surface and shoot 20 feet into the air. Nguema Obiang had the Seabreacher painted to resemble a marlin, according to the crew member.

“It’s not a military vessel in any way, shape or form,” says the former crew member.

The Blue Shadow did play a key role in legal battles to come.

A business deal gone wrong

In 2011, a South African businessman named Daniel van Rensburg tried to start an Equatorial Guinean airline with Gabriel Mba Bela, a member of the Obiang family, and then-mayor of Malabo.

The deal went south and, according to a 2021 a South African court ruling, Nguema Obiang sent his personal security force to arrest van Rensburg on Mba Bela’s behalf.

Van Rensburg was never tried. But he spent close to 500 days locked up, most of the time in Black Beach prison. Prisoners moved freely inside of the facility, van Rensburg recalls. Women and children were mixed in with criminals, political prisoners and others who had gotten on the wrong side of the regime. He remembers an 11-year-old being held for stealing a banana.

“It’s a free-for-all inside—it’s a survival thing,” he says. “You lie in open space, and you can be preyed upon if you’re weak.”

Van Rensburg says he saw other prisoners beaten while handcuffed. There wasn’t enough water to bathe regularly. There were two toilets for 400 prisoners, and no toilet paper. Twice he contracted cerebral malaria.

“I was just left in there to rot or die of some disease,” van Rensburg says. “It’s the worst possible thing you can think of.”

He got out in 2015 after a new judge realized he had never been charged, tried or convicted.

Van Rensburg took shelter at the South African embassy and eventually reached home. The judge fled the country.

Seized assets

Van Rensburg sued Nguema Obiang in South Africa in 2015, arguing that as de facto head of Equatorial Guinea’s security services, the vice president ultimately gave the orders that kept him imprisoned.

The Western Cape High Court sided with van Rensburg and, in 2021, ordered Nguema Obiang to pay almost 40 million rand, the equivalent of $2.8 million at the time, plus interest and legal costs.

“This is a case that epitomizes a sheer abuse of power and authority by the defendant,” the court said. Nguema Obiang “was hell-bent to ensure that the plaintiff does not leave prison and that he was tortured and abused,” it said.

Nguema Obiang has appealed the ruling.

Worried that Nguema Obiang wouldn’t pay up, van Rensburg asked to seize his South African assets as collateral.

The court initially allowed van Rensburg to sell off the furniture from the two villas. Early last year, the court ordered the attachment of both houses and the Blue Shadow, which was undergoing repairs in Cape Town.

On Feb. 7, 2023, a Cape Town sheriff seized the yacht.

When the South African ruling came down, Teddy Nguema Obiang lashed out on the internet. The Blue Shadow was a military vessel “that the racists of Cape Town” were holding to “cheat me out of $2 million,” he wrote.

“I have the $2 million,” he wrote, “but I will never pay it.”

A drug charge

Potgieter and Huxham worked as engineers on oil ships in the same tiny country for the same Dutch company, SBM Offshore, but, according to their bosses and families, they never met until Equatorial Guinean authorities accused them of running a joint cocaine-trafficking operation.

Potgieter worked on an Exxon Mobil ship, FPSO Serpentina, that collected oil from the Equatorial Guinean seabed. Huxham, a dual South African-U.K. citizen, was on a Chevron ship, FPSO Aseng.

Their routines were similar: some five weeks on the water, then home for a break. On Feb. 9, 2023, two days after the sheriff seized the Blue Shadow, their schedules overlapped and both men were at the Anda China Hotel, in Malabo, waiting to fly out the following day.

At 10:30 p.m., the hotel receptionist called them to the lobby. The men left their belongings in their rooms, according to SBM and court documents filed by the men’s attorneys, and headed down. Waiting there were police agents, who took them into custody, claiming to have found bags of cocaine in their backpacks.

But the police neglected to search the men’s hotel rooms, and never saw, much less seized, their backpacks, SBM staff say. Obama Ondo, Equatorial Guinea’s ambassador, says the investigation and the men’s subsequent conviction followed the regular judicial process, but declined to discuss details of the case.

Police took Potgieter and Huxham to a state security-service building, known to locals as Guantanamo. As a state-television camera rolled, agents interrogated the men in front of black plastic bags filled with white powder.

The men, wearing shorts and T-shirts, an edge of panic in their voices, denied any knowledge of the alleged drugs. “No, no– never in my life,” said Potgieter, vigorously shaking his head.

“It’s definitely not mine,” said Huxham.

SBM delivered mattresses, sheets and food for the men. A week after their arrests, Potgieter and Huxham were transported to Oveng-Azem prison, deep in the virgin forests of Equatorial Guinea’s mainland.

Van Rensburg quickly released the Blue Shadow, in part because of the potential maintenance costs should the court reverse itself and decide it was an Equatorial Guinean military yacht and not Nguema Obiang’s personal property.

Van Rensburg’s team also hoped the move might persuade Nguema Obiang to release Potgieter and Huxham.

Nguema Obiang triumphantly posted footage of the Blue Shadow leaving Cape Town and heading out to sea. “They underestimated us, and we showed them that we know how to vigorously defend ourselves,” he wrote. “This victory is a message to anyone who tries to disrespect us: You must understand that respect for our honor and sovereignty is not negotiable.”

Potgieter and Huxham went on trial in June.

By now the alleged cocaine, which authorities had previously displayed loose in black bags, was presented as trial evidence wrapped in half-a-dozen tight white bundles, according to a complaint filed to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions by the men’s lawyer.

Prosecutors never explained how the police found the alleged drugs, not having seized Potgieter and Huxham’s backpacks. Nor did they present any evidence that the powder was, in fact, cocaine, despite defense requests that the substance be tested, according to the appeal filed by the defendants.

Nevertheless, the court found the South Africans guilty: “After several months of investigation, the Criminal Police came to the conclusion and without any mistake, that the ANDA CHINA hotel was the place where the accused kept said product (Cocaine) for its later sale,” the judges wrote.

The court even stated, inaccurately, that the defendants had confessed. Each man was sentenced to 12 years in prison, $5 million in compensatory damages to be paid to the government, an unexplained $2,500 fine, and court costs.

“Equatorial Guinea guarantees the well-being of all the expatriates working in the country, but we’re also obliged to adhere to international norms against drug trafficking,” says Obama Ondo, the ambassador.

Diplomats and the men’s lawyers and families, however, complained the sentences far exceeded the three-year maximum set by Equatorial Guinean law, and that the enormous fines seemed less about compensating the state for damage inflicted by a scourge of drugs and more about compensating Teddy Nguema Obiang for the seizure of his villas and the Blue Shadow.

“The evidence presented at trial on the drug charge was not credible, and the penalty imposed was inconsistent with Equatorial Guinean law,” says the U.S. official.

Stuck in prison

Potgieter and Huxham have now spent more than a year in prison and appear in courtroom photos to have lost a great deal of weight. They have been allowed a handful of visits from South African and U.K. diplomats, and five family phone calls between them. In one, Huxham proposed to his longtime girlfriend; she accepted.

The men’s families praise SBM for exerting pressure to get Potgieter and Huxham freed. But they say Exxon and Chevron haven’t thrown their weight around on the men’s behalf.

An Exxon spokeswoman says the company supports SBM’s efforts, but adds that “these are sensitive matters, and we don’t comment on details involving employees of other companies.”

A senior Chevron executive joined a recent call with family members. Chevron’s local subsidiary “remains committed to the rule of law and ethical business standards in its operations and to its partnership with the Republic of Equatorial Guinea to develop its energy resources for the benefit of its people,” a spokeswoman says.

Foreign companies are wary of provoking the Obiangs. In addition to the money they have at stake in Equatorial Guinea, they have other employees in the country, as vulnerable to arbitrary arrest as were the South Africans. And Exxon, its Zafiro oil field’s production tapering off, is navigating its own exit from the country.

The families also fault the South African government’s response. A top South African diplomat, Zane Dangor, told Potgieter’s wife the government is hamstrung because an Equatorial Guinean court had convicted the men. But South Africa’s foreign minister is leading a delegation to Equatorial Guinea this week in hopes of negotiating the oil workers’ release, Dangor told The Wall Street Journal.

Obama Ondo says the men’s conviction “has nothing to do with a private case the vice president might have in South Africa.” But, he hints, maybe there’s a deal to be struck. “Diplomatic lines of communication are open to resolve this case,” the ambassador says. Daniel van Rensburg’s adviser, Errol Eldson suspects Nguema Obiang would free the men if he got his villas back. “But where would that leave Daniel?”

Write to Michael M. Phillips at [email protected]

Corrections & AmplificationsFrederik Potgieter worked on Exxon Mobil’s FPSO Serpentina. Peter Huxham worked on Chevron’s  FPSO Aseng. An earlier version of this article misidentified which ship was affiliated with which company. (Corrected on May 6)

Monday, May 13, 2024 72° Today's Paper

Justice Thomas criticizes ‘nastiness and the lies’ he faces

By Chris Marr / Bloomberg News

May 11, 2024

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JACK GRUBER/USA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK

Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas was the focus of controversy over Supreme Court ethics in 2023, after reports emerged that he accepted luxury travel via yacht and private jet from billionaire businessman and conservative political donor Harlan Crow without disclosing the gifts publicly.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas decried “the nastiness and the lies” he and his wife Ginny have “had to endure” in recent years.

“There’s certainly been a lot of negativity for my wife and I in the last few years,” Thomas said Friday at a conference of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Point Clear, Alabama. “But we choose not to focus on that.”

Thomas was the focus of controversy over Supreme Court ethics in 2023, after reports emerged that he accepted luxury travel via yacht and private jet from billionaire businessman and conservative political donor Harlan Crow without disclosing the gifts publicly. The justice also sold real estate including his childhood home in Georgia to Crow and failed to include those deals in his annual financial disclosures. ProPublica received a Pulitzer Prize on May 6 for its role in uncovering the financial connections.

On Friday, Thomas recounted a conversation with a friend during a walk around his neighborhood years ago. “That’s before they started attacking my friends,” Thomas said. “I hope I still have some.”

Thomas also described Washington as a place where “people pride themselves in being awful.”

“It is a hideous place as far as I’m concerned,” Thomas said.

“It’s one of the reasons we like RVing,” he added. “You get to be around regular people who don’t pride themselves in doing harmful things merely because they have the capacity to do it or because they disagree.”

The Supreme Court for the first time adopted a code of conduct in November, but it said the policy mostly affirmed existing principles around judicial ethics. It also opted against a system for receiving and investigating public complaints that applies to other federal judges.

Moderating Thomas’ Q&A-style talk on Friday was Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, previously a law clerk for Thomas who became one of the nation’s youngest federal judges when then-President Donald Trump appointed her in 2020.

The American Bar Association rated her as not qualified at the time because of her limited experience, but she narrowly won Senate confirmation to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. She drew praise from conservatives in 2022 for striking down the Biden administration’s pandemic-era mask mandate for airline travel.

Mizelle asked Thomas about his tendency to write separate or dissenting opinions that question the wisdom of long-standing precedent, as he did with the constitutional right to abortion prior to the court striking down that right in 2022 with its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision.

“My granddaddy would always say, ‘boy, if it don’t make no sense, it don’t make no sense,’” Thomas said.

“I’m not going to reflexively go along with something simply because others have always gone along with it,” he added.

Mizelle recalled Thomas holding his law clerks to tough but clear expectations such as getting the work done perfectly and on time, which he said originated from lessons learned on his grandparents’ farm when he was growing up in south Georgia.

“If you live on a subsistence farm, you either closed the chicken yard up or you didn’t. OK, if you didn’t, you may not have any chickens tomorrow,” he said. “Everything is this fine line between getting stuff done right and existing and eating and having food for the next year.”

Thomas also praised the revised format for Supreme Court oral arguments that emerged during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The justice had a reputation for rarely speaking during arguments before COVID-19, which he said was because the format struck him as rude, with justices and attorneys interrupting and talking over each other.

“It’s much better. We allow lawyers to argue their cases,” he said. “It may take a bit longer, but it’s more thorough. I think it’s more polite, and you actually listen to the lawyers.”

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Entertainment

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – Gulfstream G650, Estimated $65 Million - Jaw Dropping Celebrity Private Jets & Yachts

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson went from being bankrupt to having a net worth of $220 million. A true ‘rags to riches’ story like some other stars we’ve seen on the list, he’s come very far from those days and is now one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood.

To bask in his wealth, he purchased for himself a Gulfstream G650 that is estimated at around $65 million. It must be nice to afford such luxuries.

Justin Bieber – Pearl Yacht, Estimated $450K Per Week

Justin Bieber may be young, but his bank account is much larger than most people 20 years his senior.

He is notorious for renting out yachts and hosting big parties. To rent out such luxury yachts costs about $450,000 a week to party nonstop in style, beauty, and privacy.

Steven Spielberg – Bombardier Global Express XRS, Estimated $42 Million

Steven Spielberg is the biggest movie director in Hollywood. He has made it a few times on this list, due to his ownership of multiple travel vessels. He loves traveling in his comfortable luxury long-range jet.

While the price tag of $42 million is a purchase that is too far out of reach for most of us to even dream, for this billion-dollar director, it was nothing compared to his $3.7 billion net worth.

James Packer – Arctic P, Estimated $10 Million Per Year

James Parker is singing sensation Mariah Carey’s ex-fiancé. He is also an Australian Billionaire who has a passion for investing in luxury properties.

This luxury yacht, the Arctic P, has its own beach club, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, and entertainment hub. We could only dream of spending one day on it.

Dennis Quaid – Cessna Citation II, Estimated $600K

Dennis Quaid is known for his variety of dramatic and comedic roles and first gained widespread recognition in the 1980s. He got his pilot’s license decades years ago and has since spent much of his time up in the air. He owns two planes, including this Cessna 421 twin-engine and Cessna Citation II.

Each of them cost him $1.3 million, but the star has made himself a net worth of $40 million dollars. We are sure that he takes safety in the air very seriously and has purchased top aviation insurance, considering that a family member of his was in a plane accident.

Inside Michael Bloomberg's New $25 Million London Mansion

The former New York City mayor has added to his real estate empire with a seven-bedroom, 6,266-square-foot house built in 1715 in London's upscale Chelsea neighborhood.

The front door at 4 Cheyne Walk.

The house in on a private street whose past tenants include the novelist George Eliot (who lived at #4), James Whistler, J. M. W. Turner, and Mick Jagger, according to the New York Times .

The drawing room has two fireplaces.

You know, for maximum toastiness.

The library.

A place for quiet study.

The master bedroom features four windows.

The better to see the garden through.

The "Morning Room."

The reception rooms look exactly as they did in the early 18th century, according to the listing .

One of the guest bedrooms.

For hizzoner's visitors.

This staircase in the front hall is striking.

It leads upstairs to ornately painted walls and a baroque ceiling mural..

Hi, Venus !

This stark fourth floor room could be a bedroom—or a playroom.

A playroom seems like the best use. Bloomberg welcomed his second granddaughter to the world earlier this year after all.

The rear garden is 91 feet long.

So much room for activities!

Prospective trespassers beware.

The house is in a secluded location on a private road.

Sam Dangremond is a Contributing Digital Editor at Town & Country, where he covers men's style, cocktails, travel, and the social scene.

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Textbook Of Respiratory Medicine 7th Edition, On the morning of March 16, a thick fog shrouded the city, causing huge delays at La Guardia Airport, where the mayor and several lawmakers were waiting to travel to Albany for a news conference on state pension reform. In 2014, the New York Times . The donations included $5,000 each to Rep. Mike Caruso (R-Delray Beach) and Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota), who sponsored the trust legislation written by the Florida Coalition for Modern Laws. With his $50.1 billion fortune, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the richest person to run for president in US history.. Mr. Ford, the actor, said the mayor once lent him his AgustaWestland helicopter to pick up his daughter from summer camp; the favor was in return for once borrowing Mr. Fords Gulfstream jet. John Binder is a reporterfor Breitbart News. Meet Michael Bloomberg, the man who would be King. Also the company Diana Yacht Design successfully worked on this venture. Charles Koch has been chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, America's largest private company by revenue, since 1967. Looking for more? Michael R. Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and three-term Mayor of New York City whose innovations in government and philanthropy have made him a global leader on climate change, public health, education, and other critical issues facing America . [238][239] About a month later, Bloomberg and California Governor Jerry Brown announced that the America's Pledge coalition would work to "quantify the actions taken by U.S. states, cities and business to drive down greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. "You . Each Bored Ape image features a unique combination of 170 possible traits, including . Power and Motoryacht Magazine further points out that U.S.-registered yachts also are required to meet USCG regulations for firefighting, safety equipment and staffing. The primary was postponed later that day, due to the September 11 attacks. A s mayor, Bloomberg hasn't wheeled out the tired clich about "running government like a business.". More Than Half of Americas 100 Richest People Exploit Bloomberg was previously the U.N. special envoy for climate action between March 2018 and November But the outgoing New York City mayor received a notable show of support on Thursday from one of the countrys biggest political donors who has spent tens of millions of dollars in the past to elect presidential candidates. The mayor of New York City for 12 years, Bloomberg is one of just four individuals to have served that long. [66][67] In 2003, he implemented a successful smoking ban in all indoor workplaces, including bars and restaurants, and many other cities and states followed suit. michael bloomberg yacht name. He's simply incorporated a lifetime of business-world friends, contacts, and beliefs . Bloomberg received 75 percent of the vote in Staten Island. [151], When a 60 Minutes correspondent remarked on March 1 that Bloomberg had spent twice what President Trump had raised, he was asked how much he would spend. Maybe Im just envious, but I cant wrap my head around what one might do with a 282-foot, $200-million yacht. [215], Since 2010, Bloomberg has taken an increasingly global role on environmental issues. [85] Instead, Ognibene ran on only the Conservative Party ticket. [133][136], In June 2018, Bloomberg pledged $80million to support Democratic congressional candidates in the 2018 election, with the goal of flipping control of the Republican-controlled House to Democrats. [209] Austria closed its final coal-fired plant in April 2020. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. [55] Currently, Bloomberg's net worth is estimated at $59billion, ranking him 20th on Forbes' list of billionaires. Mike . He is typically accompanied by a pilot, Toby Wilson, whose primary job is to fly the helicopter to New York to collect the mayor, or fly it back to New Jersey once the mayor has gotten off. Bloomberg dropped out of the race on March 4, a little more than 3 months after he launched his campaign. [328], On May 27, 2010, Bloomberg delivered the commencement speech at his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University. [98] After two days of public hearings, Bloomberg signed the bill into law on November 3. [148] He spent $676million of his personal fortune on the primary campaign, breaking a record for the most money ever spent on a presidential primary campaign. Which tax haven is your home? he asked Bloomberg. If he ever needed to get away from 79th street, its possible Bloomberg could walk a few blocks down Park Avenue and visit another condo he bought in late 2000 for $3.8 million, which just so happens to be in a Trump building, Crains New York Business reported just last week. ", "Mike Bloomberg's $1.2 Million Indy Party Donation Gets Murkier and Murkier", "Bloomberg Decides Not to Endorse a Successor", "Mayor Bloomberg focused on his legacy as he prepares to leave office", "Michael Bloomberg: I Won't Endorse Candidate In New York City Mayor Race", "Bloomberg's 'racist' remark reveals much", "New York Alters Bloomberg 'Racist' Accusation", "Obama Endorses Fellow Democrat De Blasio for New York Mayor", "Bloomberg Moves Closer to Running for President", "A Vote for a President to Lead on Climate Change", "Bloomberg Backs Obama, Citing Fallout From Storm", "Bloomberg, Sensing an Opening, Revisits a Potential White House Run", "Michael Bloomberg May Enter The Presidential Race", "Michael Bloomberg Mulling Run for President as Independent", "Michael Bloomberg mulls presidential run on heels of Trump surge", "Michael Bloomberg Will Not Enter Presidential Race", "Dismayed by Donald Trump, Michael Bloomberg Will Endorse Hillary Clinton", "How to watch the Democratic convention 2016: DNC live stream, TV channel, and schedule of events", "Michael Bloomberg's DNC speech really got under Trump's skin", "Michael Bloomberg Will Spend $80 Million on the Midterms. [298], Although he attended Hebrew school, had a bar mitzvah, and his family kept a kosher kitchen, Bloomberg today is relatively secular, attending synagogue mainly during the High Holidays and a Passover Seder with his sister, Marjorie Tiven. The savvy businessman was born into a Jewish family. According to The New York Times, Bloomberg was an "anonymous donor" to the Carnegie Corporation from 2001 to 2010, with gifts ranging from $5million to $20million each year. One passenger said that on a flight, the mayor asked his passengers if they wanted coffee, and then proceeded to pour some from a Thermos into a Styrofoam cup. [312] He owns six airplanes: three Dassault Falcon 900s, a Beechcraft B300, a Pilatus PC-24, and a Cessna 182 Skylane. [79] Voting in the primary began on the morning of September 11, 2001. He grew up just outside the city, in the . The billionaire former mayor of New York City suffered blinding attacks from Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and the rest of the group, and was mostly unsuccessful in his attempts to turn the tables. He also had a huge campaign spending advantage. Can They Stage an Encore? [163][164][165] This included tobacco control efforts (including an increase in the legal age to purchase tobacco products, a ban on smoking in indoor workplaces, and an increase in the cigarette tax);[165][166] the elimination of the use of artificial trans fats in restaurants;[165] and bans on all flavored tobacco and e-cigarette products including menthol flavors. First elected in 2001, he held office for three consecutive terms, winning re-election in 2005 and 2009. [156][157][158], Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat until 2001, when he switched to the Republican Party to run for mayor. The billionaire bought a ritzy 7,500 sq. Textbook Of Respiratory Medicine 7th Edition, Poland Men's National Volleyball Team Players, pros and cons of living in florida panhandle. Michael Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician. [22] He went on to attend Johns Hopkins University, where he joined the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi. [182], Bloomberg stated that running as a Democrat not an independent was the only path he saw to defeating Donald Trump, saying: "In 2020, the great likelihood is that an independent would just split the anti-Trump vote and end up re-electing the President. [142], Bloomberg's campaign suffered from his lackluster performance in two televised debates. Michael Bloomberg We found 27 records for Michael Bloomberg in Iowa, Ohio and 15 other states. [258] Bloomberg credited the museum with sparking his intellectual curiosity as a patron and student during his youth in Medford, Massachusetts. [Emphasis added]. GFANZ, a private sector-led initiative committed to accelerating and mainstreaming the decarbonization of the world economy and reaching net zero emissions by 2050, includes over 450 financial institutions. The convention drew thousands of protesters, among them New Yorkers who despised George W. Bush and the Bush administration's pursuit of the Iraq War. [235], During the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England and chair of the Financial Stability Board, announced that Bloomberg would lead a new global task force designed to help industry and financial markets understand the growing risks of climate change. Instead, he encouraged the Democratic Party to "nominate a Democrat who will be in the strongest position to defeat Donald Trump". Could It Do More Harm Than Good? [85] The Bloomberg campaign successfully challenged the signatures Ognibene submitted to the Board of Elections to prevent Ognibene from appearing on ballots for the Republican primary. Bloomberg, who had been a lifelong member of the Democratic Party, decided to run for mayor on the Republican ticket. [9][10] Bloomberg's family is Jewish,[11] and he is a member of the Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan. Let me put it this way: I am a single, straight billionaire in Manhattan. [345][346] Bloomberg has written a number of op-eds in The New York Times about various issues, including an op-ed supporting state and local efforts to fight climate change (2017),[347] an op-ed about his donation of $1.8billion in financial aid for college students and support for need-blind admission policies (2018);[348] an op-ed supporting a ban on flavored e-cigarettes (2019);[349] and an op-ed supporting policies to reduce economic inequality (2020). Why Bloombergs Extravagant Spending Goes Too Far. Davos Is A Grift And A Cult But Its Also A Bid For Global Domination Its a Ponzi scheme, says an insider, but its also a cult, Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. rips the hype about ExxonMobils global warming projections as kind of ridiculous, EU countries now import more natural gas from the U.S. than from Russia, EIA data reveals Biden Admin wont come close to meeting rates of annual emissions reductions under UN Paris Climate Agreement, Chinese Communist Party-Linked Solar Panel Company Could Reap Inflation Reduction Act Handouts With US Factory, RIP Skeptic Dr. Jay Lehr A voice of scientific dissent on climate change He will be sorely missed, UK Guardian: To Solve the Climate Crisis We Need to Change How We Think about Wealth, IEA: Renewables dig the Earth! There is a large master stateroom with a study and private deck, a helipad, indoor cinema and an infinity pool with a 15-foot glass wall that converts to a movie screen so the director and his guests can take in a film while swimming. The public is mad, frustrated, but what the public wants is progress. When working on Wall Street in the 1960s and 1970s, Bloomberg claimed in his 1997 autobiography, he had "a girlfriend in every city". Michael Bloomberg will spend $120 million in an effort to reduce the soaring numbers of deaths from drug overdoses, he announced today at a healthcare summit he organized. [Editors update, February 2016: One billionaires mega-yacht recently made news when its anchor destroyed a section of an endangered coral reef in the Cayman Islands. [236], Following President Donald Trump's announcement that the U.S. government would withdraw from the Paris climate accord, Bloomberg outlined a coalition of cities, states, universities and businesses that had come together to honor America's commitment under the agreement through 'America's Pledge'. Michael Bloomberg is one of the wealthiest people in the world, as he is the majority owner and founder of the global financial media and data company Bloomberg L.P. As well as being a world-renowned businessman, he is also known for having been the mayor of New York City . [43] Bloomberg's staff told the New York Times that he now regrets having made "disrespectful" remarks concerning women. [159][160][161] In 2004, he endorsed the re-election of George W. Bush and spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention. In 2012, the New York Times detailed how Bloomberg would jet to his $10 million Bermuda mansion in his $42 million Dassault Falcon 900 private plane about twice a month on the weekends while he was mayor of New York City: Private jets have practically become de rigueur among the elite; everyone who is anyone either owns one or charters one regularly. Michael Bloomberg is one of the wealthiest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $34.8 billion in 2014 according to Forbes. There are some 100 marinas housing 42,000 resident yachts. 2021 black cadillac escalade for sale near netherlands; princeton men's hockey roster; age of ultron after credits scene 2; puerto rican language; seminary school richmond va At the national level, Bloomberg has consistently pushed for transitioning the United States' energy mix from fossil fuels to clean energy. Things have not always gone perfectly. All rights reserved. Although New York City's campaign finance law restricts the amount of contributions that a candidate can accept, Bloomberg chose not to use public funds and therefore his campaign was not subject to these restrictions. According to Business Insider, Bloomberg onceowned14 properties and homes around the world, including an Upper East Side five-story mansion which he renovated for nearly $2 million, a $25 million London, England, mansion, and a $20 million estate in Southampton. Dmitry Rybolovlev owns all the must-have items for the super-wealthy. Kathy Hochul to avoid becoming a political "panderer" and said homeless people need to be swept off the . Bloombergs efforts to eliminate the coal industry in the U.S. would decimate the jobs and livelihood of about 52,600 American coal miners who have prospered in President Trumps America First economy. The cost? [221] In September 2014, Bloomberg convened with Ban and global leaders at the UN Climate Summit to announce definite action to fight climate change in 2015. Wall Street Struggles to Contain Costs as Pay Pressures Escalate, Fugitive in $100 Million NJDeli-Value Case Nabbed in Thailand, Feds Beige Book Says US Price Growth Seen Moderating in 2023, Kenyan Central Bank Chief Sees Economy Expanding 6.2% This Year, Fed Chair Powell Tests Positive for Covid-19, Has Mild Symptoms, Chinas Lockdowns Weigh on Luxury Sales: The London Rush, Chipmaker Black Sesame Considers $200 Million Hong Kong IPO, Apple Faces Antitrust Investigation From Brazil Watchdog, Musks Tweet About Taking Tesla Private Cost Investors Millions, Jury Told, US Weighs StrykerVehicles inUkraine Aid Package Set for Friday, White House Accuses GOP of Economic Vandalism Over Debt Limit, Preparingfor the Worst asAmazon, Microsoft Cut Jobs, Credit Suisse to Pay Upfront Cash Bonuses to Senior Staff, A Short-Lived Revenge: Travelers Are Back But Will Be Spending Less, Avatar 2 Is Now the Top-Grossing Pandemic-Era Film, Surpassing Spider Man, A Giant Auto Market Is Short of EV Buyers, A Shrinking China Needs to Tap Its Best Source of Prosperity. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloombergs yacht is registered in the Caymans. The heiress to Bloombergs $61 billion empire is known to be a decorated equestrian, and has been up in the saddle since she was just six years old. "[274] Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids jointly launched a $160 million, three-year campaign against youth use of electronic cigarettes (vaping). "An Exclusive Look at Michael Bloomberg and Carl Pope's Book on Climate Change", "Hardcover Nonfiction Books Best Sellers", Michael Bloomberg: Why Im Giving $1.8 Billion for College Financial Aid, Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes to Protect Our Children, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Bloomberg&oldid=1128691584, Cofounding a $75million fund for nonprofits impacted by COVID-19 in New York City. Reproductive health nonprofits received a fraction of the $76 billion in foundations philanthropic giving from 2015 to 2019. [29] He wrote an autobiography, Bloomberg by Bloomberg, with help from Bloomberg News editor-in-chief Matthew Winkler. . Bloomberg, who haspledgedto end the American coal industry, has for years flown around the world to his multiple million-dollar mansions in the comfort of his own private jets and helicopters ditching commercial flights and trains that working and middle-class Americans use to travel. And he has also spent time with his daughter, Georgina, at the 12-acre property in Wellington, a town known for its International Polo Club. [262], In 1996, Bloomberg endowed the William Henry Bloomberg Professorship at Harvard University with a $3million gift in honor of his father, who died in 1963, saying, "throughout his life, he recognized the importance of reaching out to the nonprofit sector to help better the welfare of the entire community. I wasnt sure what was going on in the engine compartment behind me, but I certainly knew I was falling and couldnt breathe. Among all of the craft that dominate the view, one stands out. Until Michael was two years old, he and his family . He then singled out two people on his staff: Mr. Lasher, who accompanied the mayor on the helicopter, and Timothy F. Mulligan, the mayors fiscal director, who did not. Birth Name. A TikTok claiming to show one of the brothers from the famous "Charlie bit my finger" YouTube video giving a tour of his yacht has gone viral, but their father told Insider the man in the video is . [42][43] To celebrate Bloomberg's 48th birthday, colleagues published a pamphlet entitled Portable Bloomberg: The Wit and Wisdom of Michael Bloomberg. Will Michael Bloomberg Cause The Fed Obsessed To Finally Turn The Page? [57] He won re-election in 2005 and again in 2009. Wade. Its 282 feet long. That must be too high of a price for the mega-rich to pay. November 2021 UN Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions Michael R. Bloomberg Joins UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance Mark Carney as Co-Chair for GFANZ. When you need results, we are here to help! Diana Taylor and Michael Bloomberg attend MOMA's Party in the Garden 2018 at The Museum of Modern Art on May 31, 2018 in New York City. I was privileged to be in the same class (1964) at Hopkins. A sense of superiority can creep into the way the mayor speaks about helicopter flying versus other forms of travel. Bloomberg got his start on Wall Street in 1966 with an entry level job at investment bank Salomon Brothers. [148] His campaign blanketed the country with campaign advertisements on broadcast and cable television, the Internet, and radio,[149] as well as direct mail. [49][50][51] Bloomberg resigned as CEO of Bloomberg L.P. to run for president in 2019. That's a risk I refused to run in 2016 and we can't afford to run it now. Mad, Frustrated, Progress. He grew up in a family of four in Medford, Massachusetts, a blue-collar suburb of Boston . Michael Bloomberg was born at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts on February 14, 1942. He has also faced significant criticism for his expansion of the city's stop and frisk program, support for which he reversed with an apology before his 2020 presidential run.[4]. Michael Rubens Bloomberg was born at the St. Elizabeth's Hospital, in Brighton, Boston, on the 14th of February 1942. Maecenas sollicitudin accumsan enim, ut aliquet risus. Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. In fact, most U.S.-owned mega-yachts are registered in the Cayman Islands and other tax-friendly countries. Also the company Diana Yacht Design successfully worked on this venture. I believe in Judaism, I was raised a Jew, I'm happy to be one - or proud to be one. As you can imagine, many were curious to see how a billionaire candidate would raise the tax revenue necessary to pay for social programs like health care and climate change when every other Democratic candidate has looked to extract such revenue frombillionaires. You must be pelicans vs mavericks tickets to post a comment. He ended his campaign in March 2020, after having won only 61 delegates. [52] Bloomberg moved from 142nd to 17th in the Forbes list of the world's billionaires in only two years. [139], On March 5, 2019, Bloomberg had announced that he would not run for president in 2020. Bloomberg was frequently mentioned as a possible centrist candidate for the presidential elections in 2008[118][119] and 2012, as well as for governor of New York in 2010[120] or vice-president in 2008. His mother's name was Charlotte Rubens and his father was called William Henry Bloomberg. An August 2007 story in The New York Times stated that he was often seen chauffeured by two New York Police Department-owned SUVs to an express train station to avoid having to change from the local to the express trains on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line. Theres the Manhattan penthouse that he bought for his daughter, the European soccer club, the expensive artworks and, of course, several yachts. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, worth an estimated $54 billion, enjoys his own fleet of private jets and helicopters stationed in New Jersey while describing himself as a "global leader" on the environment and climate change. ", "Michael Bloomberg Pushed 'Stop-and-Frisk' Policing. [108] Haggerty also spent money from a separate $200,000 donation from Bloomberg on office space. Michael Bloomberg owns a luxurious Mooney Bravo private jet that is manufactured by Mooney Aviation Company. 44 in line at La Guardia to try to get off and come here., In His Helicopter, Bloomberg Can Rule Skies, and Even Get to Albany, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/13/nyregion/in-mayor-bloombergs-jet-setting-heart-a-love-for-helicopters.html. Other notable guest speakers during the virtual ceremony included Reddit co-founder and Commencement speaker Alexis Ohanian; Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a leading member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force; and senior class president Pavan Patel[330], Bloomberg has received the Yale School of Management's Award for Distinguished Leadership in Global Capital Markets (2003);[331] Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Ehud Barak (2004);[332][333] Barnard College's Barnard Medal of Distinction (2008);[334] the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Leadership for Healthy Communities' Healthy Communities Leadership Award (2009);[335] and the Jefferson Awards Foundation's U.S. The former New York City mayor has committed at least $64.5 million to date to COVID-19 efforts. He also prefers more space than that 7,500-square-foot home provides. So the answer is no unless of course you count the internal shaking I couldnt stop for the rest of the day., In October 2004, officials with the Meadowlands Sports Complex denied Mr. Bloombergs request to fly his helicopter to a Jets game and encouraged him to take the bus from the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The King himself was always known for being the romantic ladies man that he was, so its no surprise that he names his private jet Lisa Marie after his own daughter. Michael Bloomberg cofounded financial information and media company Bloomberg LP in 1981. Bloomberg spent the next twenty years as its chairman and CEO. ", "As the Clintons Step Back From Global Stage, Bloomberg Steps Up", "The US Government-In-Exile Has A New President", "Bloomberg Claps Back at Trump at Inaugural Business Forum", "Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation", "They're called the Good Club and they want to save the world", "Interfaith Celebrities: a Former Geek, the Equestrian Author, and an Aboriginal Jewish Doctor", "A Mayor by Her Side, but Politics Woos Her, Too", "Mayor Bloomberg's girlfriend Diana Taylor says no need for police escort", "The Mayor's Lady, Her Own Woman, One and the Same", "Inside the relationship of Mike Bloomberg and his longtime partner, Diana Taylor, who met at a business lunch 20 years ago and live in a 5-story Manhattan townhouse", "Commissioner Marjorie B. Tiven, Office of the Mayor, Commission for the United Nations Consular Corps & Protocol", "Mike Bloomberg for years has battled women's allegations of profane, sexist comments", "Michael Bloomberg's past comments about women and rape will likely haunt him on the 2020 campaign trail", "Bloomberg grows his Hamptons estate, reveals overseas bank accounts", "Bloomberg Buys Southampton 'Ballyshear Estate' For $20 Million", "Michael Bloomberg buys 16m house in exclusive London street", "New York's Mayor, but Bermuda Shares Custody", "Mayor Takes the Subway by Way of S.U.V. [208] In July 2017, Europe Beyond Coal was established to phase out use of coal on the continent by 2030. [137] By early October, Bloomberg had committed more than $100million to returning the House and Senate to Democratic power, fueling speculation about a presidential run in 2020. Bloomberg does live in New York, and depending on how you count them, he reportedly has eight homes in the state. Records show Walton gave $96,000 to Florida legislators and the Republican Party of Florida. Michael Bloomberg Donates Millions To Increase Racial Diversity In STEM | Top Givers. Michael Bloomberg Biography | Wiki. As a teenager, Bloomberg worked at an electronics company in Cambridge, MA. Is capitalism really the best economic system? [214] In January 2015, Bloomberg led Bloomberg Philanthropies in a $48-million partnership with the Heising-Simons family to launch the Clean Energy Initiative. of Bloomberg L.P., a company he . The program was later expanded to competitions in Latin America and Europe. When he left office in 2013, his primary residence was a Beaux-Arts mansion on East 79th street, steps away from Central Park. [ 258 ] Bloomberg credited the museum with sparking his intellectual curiosity a... September 11, 2001 money from a separate $ 200,000 donation from Bloomberg office... Company by revenue, since 1967, in the strongest position to defeat Donald Trump '' the.... And CEO Republican ticket mayor michael Bloombergs Yacht is registered in the engine compartment behind me but! To defeat Donald Trump '' [ 328 ], on March 5 2019! Pros and cons of living in Florida panhandle he & # x27 ; s incorporated... A Jewish family 208 ] in July 2017, Europe Beyond Coal was established to phase out of! In foundations philanthropic giving from 2015 to 2019 the man who would be King at bank! Has committed at least $ 64.5 million to date to COVID-19 efforts man who be! Off the forms of travel into a Jewish family 100 marinas housing 42,000 yachts! Versus other forms of travel how you count them, he held office for three consecutive terms, winning in. Terms, winning re-election in 2005 and 2009 depending on how you count them, he his. His primary residence was a Beaux-Arts mansion on East 79th Street, steps away from Central.... He ended his campaign at St. Elizabeth & # x27 ; s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts a! 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Self-Declared Climate Change ‘Global Leader’ Mike Bloomberg Enjoys His Own Fleet of Private Jets, Helicopters

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, worth an estimated $54 billion, enjoys his own fleet of private jets and helicopters stationed in New Jersey while describing himself as a “global leader” on the environment and climate change.

Bloomberg, who has pledged to end the American coal industry, has for years flown around the world to his multiple million-dollar mansions in the comfort of his own private jets and helicopters — ditching commercial flights and trains that working and middle-class Americans use to travel.

In 2012, the New York Times detailed how Bloomberg would jet to his $10 million Bermuda mansion in his $42 million Dassault Falcon 900 private plane about twice a month on the weekends while he was mayor of New York City:

Private jets have practically become de rigueur among the elite ; everyone who is anyone either owns one or charters one regularly. Mayor Bloomberg is no exception: his trips to Bermuda aboard his private jet often fill in the blanks on weekends when he has no public schedule. [Emphasis added]

Inside Sources described in January how Bloomberg’s private jet likely “generates an estimated 37 times more carbon emissions than the same trip on a commercial flight.” As for Bloomberg’s $7 million AgustaWestland AW109, the helicopter “burns a jaw-dropping 72 gallons of fuel every hour,” according to the report.

Since the early 2010s , Bloomberg has been on an exclusive waiting list to get his hands on the AgustaWestland AW609 Tiltrotor helicopter, worth anywhere between $5 million and $30 million.

It is not just private jets and helicopters that Bloomberg favors, it is also yachts. In 2014, the New York Times reported that Bloomberg chartered a two-story yacht through the waters near Turkey:

After his breakfast with the anti-tobacco activists, Mr. Bloomberg kicked back on a huge two-story yacht procured by staff members to take him from his hotel on the Bosporus to the next event on his schedule: commencement remarks to be delivered at Koc University , an elite institution founded by the billionaire Rahmi Koc, his friend and fellow alumnus from Johns Hopkins University. [Emphasis added]

According to Business Insider, Bloomberg once owned  14 properties and homes around the world, including an Upper East Side five-story mansion which he renovated for nearly $2 million, a $25 million London, England, mansion, and a $20 million estate in Southampton.

Bloomberg’s efforts to eliminate the coal industry in the U.S. would decimate the jobs and livelihood of about 52,600 American coal miners who have prospered in President Trump’s “America First” economy. Thanks to Trump’s pro-American energy agenda, the coal industry has stabilized, according to United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at  @JxhnBinder .

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