Billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg publicly acknowledged for the first Monday that he is considering jumping in the 2016 presidential race. The 73-year-old media titan, who is politically independent, told Financial Times that he is "looking at all the options" and plans to decide by next month whether to launch a bid for the White House, just in time to get his name on ballots across the country.
"I find the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal and an outrage and an insult to the voters," he said, adding that Americans deserve "a lot better."
"I'm listening to what candidates are saying and what the primary voters appear to be doing," he said.
It's the first time Bloomberg, who founded the eponymous financial information organization and served as mayor of New York City from 2002 until 2013, has spoken publicly on the topic. People close to him told The New York Times last month that he directed his advisers to draft a plan to run as an independent candidate and would be willing to spend $1 billion of his estimated $39 billion fortune doing so, as HNGN previously reported. Sources closes to Bloomberg said at the time that he was much more likely to enter the race if he thinks Republican front-runner Donald Trump or Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders are going to be nominated.
Bloomberg would be the richest candidate to ever run for president, dwarfing Trump's estimated $4 to $8 billion net worth. Bloomberg's wealth would also allow him to counter one of Trump's main talking points: that he is the only candidate who is so rich that he doesn't need to accept money from special interest groups, according to The Daily Mail.
Trump told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in January that he would welcome Bloomberg into the race. "I'd beat him," Trump said. "I would love him to do it actually. I love the competition. I love the competition. I would love for Michael to do it."
Bloomberg - a fiscal conservative who holds liberal positions on issues like the environment, abortion rights and gun control - would likely run as a moderate, touting his business experience and willingness to compromise, according to CNN.
