This latest initiative by Michael Bloomberg sparked my memory of the man. I remember many years ago I was visiting Bloomberg offices in Singapore. Michael Bloomberg was years away from becoming the mayor of NY. He was sitting outside among the many desks and our sales rep invited me to meet the founder of the company. This guy had the habit of wanting to meet the users of his terminals. In the early days, you could contact him directly and easily (actually Bloomberg was already quite big by then). His business methods were unconventional and surely gave a drubbing to the other players in that space. The giant Reuters felt a lot of heat from him.
I will always remember him as more honest than most entrepreneurs. In his book, "Bloomberg on Bloomberg" I found the only guy who was willing to admit his success was in no small measure due to luck. He went on to detail how he was lucky. Few successful people are as honest and cannot resist painting themselves as heroes.
Dr. Goh Keng Swee in his farewell speech in 1984 in parliament begun by recounting how the Old Guard were lucky. I will always respect him for that. Subsequent ministers, just like fund managers are adept at explaining away luck as skill.
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 -- 9:03 PM EDT
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Bloomberg Investing $30 Million of His Money in Program to Aid Minority Youth
The administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in a blunt acknowledgment that thousands of young black and Latino men are cut off from New York’s civic, educational and economic life, plans to spend nearly $130 million on far-reaching measures to improve their circumstances.
The program, the most ambitious policy push of Mr. Bloomberg’s third term, would overhaul how the government interacts with a population of about 315,000 New Yorkers who are disproportionately undereducated, incarcerated and unemployed.
To pay for the endeavor in a time of fiscal austerity, the city is relying on an unusual source: Mr. Bloomberg himself, who intends to use his personal fortune to finance about a quarter of the cost, city officials said.
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