Millionaire Spotlight

I know I have been remiss lately on getting the Millionaire Spotlight out on Friday evenings, and I am really and truly working to improve upon that. The unfortunate case of why the Millionaire Spotlight did not appear this Friday, or even Saturday was because I was more than a little under the weather and unable to sit up long enough to do a proper job of posting. Now that I am again back in the virtual saddle, please enjoy your Millionaire Spotlight...

Tonight we are going to take a brief look at who Forbes rated as the Tenth richest man in America, Michael Bloomberg. Michael Rubens Bloomberg was born on Valentine's Day, (February 14) 1942 and currently is the Mayor of New York City. His current net worth in 2010 (when Forbes generated it's list) is $18 billion dollars. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg, L.P., a financial news and information services media company.

Michael Bloomberg is the grandson of Russian Jewish immigrants and was raised by middle class parents in Medford, Massachusetts. Michael Bloomberg was taught at an early age the values of hard work and civic responsibility. He worked his way through Johns Hopkins University by taking loans and working as a parking attendant during the summer months. He then received his MBA from Harvard Business School. He was ultimately hired by Salomon Brothers to work on Wall Street where he oversaw equity trading and sales and ultimately was in charge of their information systems. When he was fired from Saloman Brothers, he was provided a $10 million severance package which he then used to set up his own information systems company.

His vision of a good information systems company was one that would use emerging technology to bring transparency and efficiency to both buyers and sellers in financial securities. His first customer was Merrill Lynch where his new company, Innovative Market Systems installed 22 of the new terminals. His ultimately renamed his company Bloomberg L.P. in 1986. By 1987, this company had installed 5,000 terminals. As of 2009, Bloomberg L.P. has more than 250,000 terminals worldwide. They have subsequently expanded to include ancillary products and a radio network.

As Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg declines to receive a city salary, accepting $1.00 annually for his services. Today he still maintains a public listing in the New York City phone directory, does not reside in the official mayor's mansion but lives in his own home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He claims to be a frequent rider of the New York City Subway. His substantial net worth has allowed him to engage in many large philanthropic endeavors to include large donations to Johns Hopkins University, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Lung Foundations and the World Health Organization.

When the financial crisis begin to affect the country in 2008, Mayor Bloomberg launched a Five Borough Economic Opportunity Plan to bring New York City through the downturn as quickly as possible. This plan has helped the City of New York avoid the level of job losses that many experts had originally forecasted. He continues to strive towards making New York City the safest large city in America and launched a coalition of mayors and business leaders from across the country to work on sensible immigration reform.

Again, we have in Mayor Michael Bloomberg a person who came from humble beginnings worked hard and through dedication, seeking opportunities and smart investing became the Forbes 10th riches person in America in 2010. You can also see that Michael Bloomberg, like the other Millionaires we have Spotlighted, gives back to the community through his philanthropic activities. Hopefully, as we all grow closer to becoming millionaires we too will remember to give back to the community that helped us along our way.

With luck, we will be able to post our next Millionaire Spotlight this Friday evening...

Until tomorrow...