Mayor Bloomberg's Net Worth Jumped 37 Percent In the Last Two Years

Michael Bloomberg

 

By Albert Samaha Tue., Sep. 17 2013 at 10:57 AM

 

Categories: Michael Bloomberg

Barry Blitt, the New Yorker

Mayor Mike Bloomberg hasn't been going quietly. He's been spouting thoughts like that drunk guy who's stayed too long at the house party. Stop and frisk more minorities! De Blasio ran a racist campaign! He's clearly savoring this rare moment in the public spotlight when he can really let loose. Without an election coming up, what does he care about what we think? No longer confined to the rhetorical box of public office, he's now just a rich guy who can say whatever he wants.
So, yeah, he's turning the swag up a notch during his final few months in city hall. His favorability numbers might be sagging, but his bank account numbers are soaring. Over the past two years, Bloomberg's net worth has jumped 36 percent, according to the Forbes 400 list, which was released this week.
Bloomberg held down the #10 spot on the magazine's tally of America's richest people--the same ranking as last year.
Over those 12 months, however, his net worth grew by $6 billion. The bump was part of a sharp upward financial trend for him in the second half of his final term.
From October 2009 to November 2011, Bloomberg's worth, undoubtedly constrained by the Great Recession, inched upward from $17.5 billion to $19.5 billion. But his fortune quickly shook off the economy's malaise. By September 2012, it climbed to $25 billion, and today it sits at $31 billion. That's a $13.5 billion increase in less than two years.
Forbes tied the gain to "the performance of Bloomberg LP," of which the mayor owns 88 percent. In 2012, the company made $7.9 billion in revenue--up from around $6.87 billion in 2010 according to the New York Post.
Of course, for all Bloomberg's bark, he's always backed up his talk with a lot of paper. As of this year, his lifetime philanthropy reached $2.8 billion.
And then when you spot some of the other names on that Forbes list--the Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson--it's easier to remember why you invited that guy to the house party in the first place.