23 In what was clearly an uncomfortable meeting above the outgoing mayor’s famous bullpen, Bloomberg tries to share his advice with incoming mayor Bill de Blasio. De Blasio campaigned as the anti-Bloomberg candidate, and he would continue for years to blame many of the city’s problems on his predecessor.
24 With only one day to go on his countdown clock, Bloomberg and staff meet with incoming mayor Bill de Blasio. Patti Harris keeps her grim composure; Howard Wolfson, next to Bloomberg, leans in to listen. It would not be a smooth transition.
25 Outgoing Mayor Bloomberg and longtime companion Diana Taylor endure the frosty inauguration of his successor, Bill de Blasio. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s partner, Sandra Lee, is on his right. Bloomberg would later receive a new title from the United Nations, a Genesis prize from Israel, and an honorary knighthood from the Queen of England. But there was little praise on this day, and one speaker set the tone by accusing him of running the city like a “plantation.” Michael Bloomberg’s face says it all.
26 When President Trump pulled the country out of the Paris Agreement in 2017, Bloomberg vowed to meet America’s goals for cleaner air—city by city, state by state, and business by business. Exactly twenty-two hours after Trump’s announcement, Bloomberg was in Paris to seal his promise. In a telling green tie, he confers with French President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
27 After Hurricane Irma destroyed much of the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2017, Bloomberg quickly commandeered his airplanes and his colleagues to help out. Here, he and Bloomberg LP cofounder Tom Secunda unload supplies for a local health center.
28 Michael Bloomberg prepares to make a speech, one of thousands he will give over the years—as a politician, a philanthropist, a businessman, and an adviser—especially at graduation ceremonies across the country. He wants his voice to be heard, and he has the money to amplify that need. A restless man who chafes at an empty hour on his overloaded schedule, Bloomberg has few quiet, contemplative moments like this one.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Any biographer acquires many debts, and for this work, mine begin with Howell Raines, who hired me in 1998 as a member of the New York Times editorial board. My mission was to opine about city and state matters, and I spent much of the next eighteen years watching and writing about Michael Bloomberg. Gail Collins, columnist and editorial page editor, was a particularly generous colleague and boss, and Andy Rosenthal, who took over the editorial page from Gail, helped me see the mayor from different perspectives.
My other colleagues on the editorial page during the Bloomberg years always raised the standards of any debate. They include editors Robert Semple, Philip Boffey, Philip Taubman, Terry Tang, Ethan Browner, and Linda Cohn, and board members Vikaz Bijaj, Maura Casey, Frank Clines, Adam Cohen, Carolyn Curiel, Lawrence Downes, Lincoln Caplan, David Firestone, Carol Giacomo, Verlyn Klinkenborg, Nick Kulish, Ernesto Londono, Floyd Norris, Eduardo Porter, Tina Rosenberg, Dorothy Samuels, Brent Staples, Ernest Tollerson, Teresa Tritch, David Unger, Jesse Wegman, and Steve Weisman. Mara Gay, who took over my slot on the board, also helped me see other aspects of Bloomberg. Abby Aguirre, Peter Catapano, Rusha Haljuci, Liz Harris, Carol Lee, Phoebe Lett, and Brian Zittel offered expert research, guidance, and support, and especially Eileen Lepping, who generously helped with the manuscript. Copyeditors Justin Jones, Bruce Levine, Alan Mattingly, Steve Pickering, and Bob Rudiger steered me clear of so many errors over the years. The ever-cheerful Maureen Muenster organized almost everything for the Times opinion staff, a job she left in 2018 to her expert successor, Elfriede Engl.
Sara Barrett, photo editor for editorial, guided me expertly through the New York Times photo galleries, as did Jeff Roth, caretaker of the Times morgue, who discovered a trove of photos of the early Mike on Wall Street. Lori Reese helped with Times photos as did Frank Barry at Bloomberg.
Although I covered many of the events written about here, I turned often to some of the expert reporters at the Times for their valuable writings about Michael Bloomberg. They included Charles V. Bagli, Al Baker, Michael Barbaro, David Chen, Michael Cooper, Michael M. Grynbaum, Winnie Hu, Adam Nagourney, William Rashbaum, Jennifer Steinhauer, Kate Taylor, and especially my friends Clyde Haberman and Sam Roberts.
I was especially fortunate to have time with Wayne Barrett, the incomparable investigative journalist who died in 2017. He was generous with his wisdom, his sources, and his files on Bloomberg.
Other authors have tackled Bloomberg’s story, including Bloomberg himself. But two deserve extra mention and thanks. To understand how Bloomberg ran the nation’s largest city, the best and most encyclopedic work is Chris McNickle’s Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition, published in 2017. McNickle, an expert historian and trained economist, was also kind enough to read a draft and help me avoid a few real bloopers. (Other mistakes, of course, are my own doing.)
For her invaluable 2009 biography, Mike Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics, Joyce Purnick interviewed many of Bloomberg’s friends and family, including those who have died or decided not to give more interviews. A former New York Times editor and columnist, Joyce was kind enough to give me very sage advice about this project.
There are legions of people I should thank who spoke to me anonymously. Some simply wanted to be frank and open, but a billionaire like Bloomberg clearly frightens a surprising number of people. Those backgrounders made the people who spoke on the record all the more valuable.
At New York University, where I was a visiting scholar in 2016, my thanks go to Sherry Glied, dean of NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service, and especially to Professor Mitchell Moss, director of the Rudin Center for Transportation, who constantly offered the best overview of New York City, its history, and its politics. Thanks also to aides Marilyn Lopez and Kiran Lutfeali.
At the City University of New York, I was fortunate enough to be chosen as a fellow for the Leon Levy Biography Center in 2017 to 2018. That fellowship is such a gift for any biographer—advice, research, and encouragement from those who know how hard it is to pack an entire life into one book. My thanks go to Kai Bird, director and accomplished biographer; Thad Ziolkowski, associate director and poet; and my talented co-fellows, Justin Gifford, Micki Kaufman, Bruce Weber, and Lindsay Whalen. A special thanks to Shelby White, who made the Levy fellowships possible.
Samuel Crawford, a friend and financial wizard, helped me understand the inner machinations of the finance world and its dependence on computers. Others, some of whom worked for Bloomberg, I will have to thank anonymously.
Researchers were vital, including Glenn Speer at CUNY; Donna Davey, Shawn Smith-Cruz and Adriana Palmer, librarians at CUNY’s Graduate Center; and Danny Klein at the Jersey City public library. Dr. Jacqueline J. Wisner, a medical doctor with a love of history, provided fascinating information about the early years of Bloomberg’s family in New Jersey. Jasper Craven helped with the Massachusetts data, and John Surico provided much-needed assistance, including time spent going through the Barrett documents. Thanks also go to Paul Friedman at the New York Public Library, Mimi Chiahamen and Amy Whyte at Institutional Investor, Joe Halpern and Liz Toner at the Boston Business Journal, broadcaster Lisa Napoli, Massachusetts librarians Victoria Schneiderman in Medford and Sarah Gay Jackson in Chelsea, Christina Prochilo from Historic New England and Kelsey Sawyer from the Jewish Heritage Center at the New England Genealogical Society.
The New York City Municipal Archives preserves riches about the city’s mayors and issues going back in time. With the help of archivists, I was able to get some understanding of how hard it is to run the nation’s largest and most complex city. Pauline Toole, commissioner of the city department of records and information services, provided guidance, as did Sylvia Kollar, director of the NYC Archives. Kenneth Cobb, assistant commissioner, provided his expertise, Nathalie Belkin helped with records, and Rossy Mendez helped with photos. They are keepers of a vast array of city treasures.
Frank Barry, an editor at Bloomberg Opinion and a
gifted speechwriter for the former mayor, was especially patient and helpful. He tried very hard to guide me to the best possible versions of Mike Bloomberg and to counter any of the flaws mentioned here. Bloomberg’s political ringmaster, Kevin Sheekey, spun his many hours with Bloomberg into intoxicating yarns. Howard Wolfson mapped the political field with expertise. Bill Cunningham helped me gather stories and context, and Ester Fuchs, professor and urban affairs expert at Columbia University, offered thoughtful assessments of the man and his ambitions.
Experts helping at Simon and Schuster include Stephen Bedford, director of marketing, Elizabeth Gay, publicity manager, Ruth Lee-Mui, associate director of interior design, Lisa Erwin, director of production, Jessica Chin, copyediting manager, and copyeditor Robert Sternitzky. Stuart Roberts, now an editor, and associate editor Amar Deol helped untangle editorial, computer, and other complications.
The indomitable Alice Mayhew, my editor and friend, has helped bring this book to life, as she has done with so many biographies of other influential people over the years. David Black provided much-needed enthusiasm and counsel. His patience as a literary agent is phenomenal, and I can only hope it will be rewarded.
Of course, this project would have been impossible without the help of my family. My ebullient and gifted husband, Peter Pringle, took time away from his own projects to read and suggest improvements to this manuscript. Our daughter, Victoria, provided support, joy, and encouragement.
Finally, even with all this help and expertise, I take responsibility for any mistakes, failings, omissions, or misjudgments. That said, I hope this book provided an enjoyable read about this very important man.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
© EARL WILSON
ELEANOR RANDOLPH has covered national politics and the media for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and other newspapers. Her articles have appeared in Vogue, Esquire, the New Republic, and other magazines. A member of the New York Times editorial board from 1998 to 2016, she focused on city and state politics. She lives in New York City.
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Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Eleanor-Randolph
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NOTES ON SOURCES
As a longtime journalist and editorial board member at the New York Times during the Bloomberg years as mayor, I have covered and witnessed many of the events recorded in this book. I have also relied on coverage by the Times especially to confirm quotes or details. I conducted more than one hundred interviews of people who knew or know Michael Bloomberg, and Bloomberg himself gave several hours of his time for formal discussions and informal chats to add flavor and context.
For Bloomberg’s youth and family, Bloomberg’s sister Marjorie Tiven collected much of the family history, as did Dr. Jacqueline Wisner, a physician and amateur historian with a particular interest in New Jersey. Author Joyce Purnick interviewed and wrote about many of those in Medford, Mass. In her 2009 work, “Mike Bloomberg, Money, Power Politics,” she was able to talk with many people including Bloomberg’s powerful mother before they died. My own visit to Medford gave me a better idea, as well, of the place where Bloomberg thrived as a boy but ached to leave.
Officials at the New York City Municipal Archives kindly provided access to some of the documents from Mayor Bloomberg’s time at city hall, including important troves saved by Bloomberg’s daughter Emma, Dan Doctoroff, his development deputy, and Peter Madonia, his chief of staff. These papers helped me understand the complexity of the city, and the way the Bloomberg team worked. They also offered valuable guidance in my interviews with Bloomberg’s top aides as mayor.
The late investigative reporter Wayne Barrett had saved reams of vital documents, including those that the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board had unwisely discarded after Bloomberg left office. His files were also rich in other details about the Bloomberg years. After he died, Barrett’s archives were moved to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin.
For the business side, I conducted interviews with Bloomberg’s colleagues at Salomon Brothers. For the period when he created his business, I had a good number of interviews on background, given Bloomberg’s strict rules about talking to outsiders. That said, several top Bloomberg executives were generous with their time and helped explain how the business worked. I have also consulted financial analysts, competitors, business writers, Bloomberg news alumni, and numerous users of the Bloomberg terminals. Bloomberg’s autobiography, “Bloomberg by Bloomberg” written with Matthew Winkler in 1997, is also a great primer on the man and the business.
For his philanthropy, I relied on Bloomberg Philanthropies for numbers and details, plus interviews with experts on giving. Some of the experimental work with cities was followed by academic assessments that were helpful, as were federal reports from the Bloomberg family charity. George Fertitta, who runs the consulting group made up of Bloomberg’s city officials, vastly expanded my understanding of that new venture. And, Patti Harris, who runs the philanthropies for Bloomberg, helped provide the big picture. By 2019, Bloomberg had given out or promised $10 billion of his more than $50 billion in net worth—virtually all of it sanctioned by Harris.
For Bloomberg’s political giving and presidential dreams, Kevin Sheekey and Howard Wolfson repeatedly provided details. Frank Barry, Bloomberg’s talented speech writer, patiently worked to provide me with guidance overall, a thankless task.
Any biography of a man as complex and active as this one will only provide a snapshot of the whole person. He is seventy-seven years old at this writing and pledges to keep pushing for a better world until he dies. I have attempted to use important examples to show who he is and how he has operated. But there are many other efforts, especially in his time as mayor, that are barely mentioned here. That doesn’t mean they are unimportant. I happily leave those for the next biographer of Michael Rubens Bloomberg.
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
1. Landon Thomas Jr., “Michael Bloomberg’s Harder Sell,” New York Times, August 23, 2014.
2. Author interviews, background.
3. Michael Wolff, “Bloomberg News,” New York, August 27, 2001.
4. Author interview with Michael Bloomberg, August 16, 2018.
5. Amy Russo, “Michael Bloomberg Says He Won’t Go on Joe Biden’s White Male Apology Tour,” Huffington Post, March 22, 2019.
6. Daniel L. Doctoroff, Greater Than Ever: New York’s Big Comeback (New York: PublicAffairs, 2017), 250.
7. John Sullivan, “2 Arrested in Bloomberg Extortion Case,” New York Times, August 15, 2000; United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, “U.S. Convicts Kazakhstan Hacker of Breaking into Bloomberg L.P.’s Computers and Attempting Extortion,” U.S. Department of Justice, February 26, 2003.
8. Author interview with Bloomberg, August 16, 2018.
9. Author interview with Robert Francis Goldrich, president, Leon Levy Foundation, 2017.
10. Katie Couric, “Michael Bloomberg on Climate Change, the Power of Government, and Why He’s Still Hopeful About the Future,” Town & Country, May 9, 2017.
CHAPTER 1: BORN TO RUN, EVERYTHING
1. Michael Bloomberg with Matthew Winkler, Bloomberg by Bloomberg (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997), 10.
2. Joyce Purnick, Mike Bloomberg, Money, Power, Politics (New York: PublicAffairs, 2009), 11.
3. Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg by Bloomberg (1997; Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, updated and digital, 2019), 458.
4. Bloomberg family history, c
ompiled by Bloomberg and his sister, Marjorie Tivens, provided to author by Michael Bloomberg representative Frank Barry, 2018.
5. Ibid.
6. Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg by Bloomberg (reissue, 2019), 518.
7. Ibid, Bloomberg family history.
8. Max Rubens death certificate, Department of Health of the City of New York, Register no. 16454, June 8, 1922.
9. Dr. Jacqueline Wisner, Hudson Roots newsletter for the Hudson County (New Jersey) Genealogical Society, June/November 2009.
10. William L. Dickinson High School (Jersey City, New Jersey) yearbook, 1925.
11. Adelaide “Adeline” Gehrig, Museum of American Fencing, http://museumofamericanfencing.com/wp/gehrig-adeline/.
12. Commerce Violet, Accounts and Finance yearbook, New York University School of Commerce, 1929.
13. Elizabeth Harris, “Charlotte R. Bloomberg, Mayor’s Mother, Dies at 102,” New York Times, June 20, 2011.
14. Birth Certificate, Michael Rubens Bloomberg, February 14, 1942, City of Boston.
15. Author interviews with classmates from Medford, 2014 and 2015.
16. Purnick, Mike Bloomberg, 39.
17. Bloomberg film for Boston’s Museum of Science, https://www.bloomberg.org/press/videos/mike-bloomberg-makes-major-gift-museum-science-boston/.
18. Ibid.
The Many Lives of Michael Bloomberg Page 40