Michael Bloomberg Uses Philanthropy to Take on Problems Others Ignore

Michael Bloomberg says that by the end of this year, he plans to have given away at least $400-million, according to a Time magazine cover article (October 21) that examines what he will do after his term as mayor of New York ends in December.

Mr. Bloomberg, who has wealth of $31-billion, according to the magazine, says his philanthropy allows him to focus on problems he could not always deal with as mayor. With philanthropy, he says, “You can do things that the public does not think are appropriate or conventional for public monies. If we didn’t have private philanthropy, you never would have had Impressionism, for example,” he says. “Nobody thought that that was art, and today that commands prices 10 times that of the Old Masters.”

Mr. Bloomberg is one of several American billionaires who are using their wealth to attempt to change the world through “policy and politics” in a way that harkens back to the era of men like Andrew Carnegie, Andrew W. Mellon, and John D. Rockefeller, all of whom used their money for charity and public-policy efforts in the United States and elsewhere, the magazine notes.

Mr. Bloomberg has high ambitions for what his charitable and political donations might accomplish. “I want to do things nobody else is doing,” he tells Time. And to some extent, he has.

He’s devoted millions of dollars to advocating for safe-helmet laws in Vietnam and eliminating automobile accidents in developing countries, and he started a competition to improve governance in European cities (every year the winning city receives approximately $6.8-million). He also is not afraid to step into controversial areas, such as financing efforts to regulate fracking and strengthen gun-control laws.

Like those wealthy philanthropists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Mr. Bloomberg knows the power of his wealth, the magazine says.

“A lot of elected officials are afraid to back controversial things. I’m not afraid of that,” he says. “You’re not going to hurt my business, and if you are, I don’t care. I take great pride in being willing to stand up.”

And he says he has no intention of receding from the political and philanthropic spotlight after he leaves office: “I’m not going to play golf like I threatened to do full time.”