Observer, April 2023
Michael Bloomberg, billionaire founder of media, finance and data company Bloomberg, plans to leave his business empire to charity. The move follows the recent announcement that proceeds from apparel company Patagonia, founded by Yvon Chouinard, will be given to charitable causes, marking a rising trend in corporate executives pledging their fortunes to philanthropy instead of passing them to heirs.
Bloomberg is set to eventually transfer ownership of his company to a trust, overseen by friends and family, that will subsequently finance his foundation Bloomberg Philanthropies. “He has committed to giving the company away to Bloomberg Philanthropies when he dies, if not sooner,” said company spokesman Ty Trippet in a statement to the Financial Times.
Bloomberg’s company, which recorded $12.2 billion of revenue in 2022, makes the majority of its profits from the Bloomberg Terminal, a data and analytics system used by financial institutions, while its media sector brings in about $500 million annually, according to the Financial Times.
