Though New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was listed as number 44 on the 400 richest Americans by Forbes Magazine in 2006, he does his current job - leading one of the largest cities in the world - for just $1 a year. A hard-working politician and Medford native, Bloomberg will be delivering the keynote address at this year's Commencement.
Since he was born in Medford in 1942 to middle-class parents, Bloomberg has tried his hand - successfully - at a wide array of endeavors. Over the years he has been a stock trader, inventor, entrepreneur, business owner, media tycoon, mayor and, now, a philanthropist.
Bloomberg studied electrical engineering at Johns Hopkins and received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1966. After several years of working on Wall Street for Salomon, Inc., the company was sold and Bloomberg left.
But he didn't stay down for long. Using the money he had made at Salomon, Bloomberg developed a computer system that would organize stock market information and created his own business, Bloomberg L.P. The first year - 1982 - he sold 20 subscriptions to his service. Now, according to New York's Office of the Mayor Web site, the business has 165,000 subscribers across the world.
By the 1990s, Bloomberg had expanded the company to an array of media services, such as radio and television stations, a news service and Internet operations.
It was not until 2001, in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, that Bloomberg decided to take his professional success into the political world. Bloomberg ran for mayor of New York with an endorsement from Rudy Giuliani, the outgoing mayor who was leaving office due to term limits. A liberal Republican, Bloomberg has focused on improving public education in the city and reducing crime.
He has worked to ban smoking and trans fats in New York City restaurants, and the city's murder rate has dropped throughout his tenure. Time Magazine cited these and other reasons when it named Bloomberg on its list of the Top 100 Most Influential People this year.
In spite of his success and importance, Bloomberg stays down to earth as mayor. According to CityMayors.com, he rides the subway to work every day, lives at home rather than in the mayor's mansion and forgoes his mayoral salary, accepting the "token payment" of $1 each year.
At the same time, Bloomberg is a philanthropist. He gives millions of dollars to charities each year. According to the Office of the Mayor Web site, he has given money to help victims of domestic violence in New York and sponsored the Children's Health Fund's Mobile Medical Unit to help children of homeless families. In addition, he has been a board member of various "civic, cultural, educational and medical institutions," according to the site.
Bloomberg has said that, when he is out of office, he plans to become a "full-time philanthropist," according to Yahoo News. The epitome of a Tufts "Active Citizen," Bloomberg will receive an honorary doctorate of public service.
University President Lawrence Bacow, in an e-mail to the Daily, called Bloomberg "a wonderful example of someone who has succeeded in virtually every arena where he has applied his many talents" and a "terrific role model for our students."
