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         New York's Michael Bloomberg Weighs US Presidential Candidacy

   by VOA News

   Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is weighing a late entry into
   the 2016 U.S. presidential contest as an independent candidate.

   The 73-year-old Bloomberg served three terms as the mayor of the
   biggest U.S. city and, since leaving office two years ago, has
   unsuccessfully sought to win support for tighter gun control laws in
   the U.S.

   Bloomberg, with a net worth of more than $40 billion, is one of the
   wealthiest of Americans, his fortune in part stemming from the
   widespread use of what many in high finance and media circles know as
   the "Bloomberg machine," a vast and costly collection of financial data
   about companies and economies from across the globe.

   According to U.S. news accounts, Bloomberg has told associates he would
   be willing to spend $1 billion of his own fortune on a campaign, but is
   giving himself until early March to decide whether to run, after the
   first Democratic and Republican party presidential nominating contests
   are held in the coming weeks.

   Bloomberg's associates say he is particularly concerned about the
   domination of the Republican contest by another billionaire, flamboyant
   New York real estate mogul Donald Trump, someone Bloomberg has known
   for two decades, and also is worried about the outcome of the
   Democratic race.

   Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the leading Democratic
   contender, according to national surveys. But the polling shows Vermont
   Senator Bernie Sanders, who calls himself an independent socialist
   Democrat, has edged ahead of her in the first two states set to vote
   next month, Iowa and New Hampshire.

   Bloomberg, once a Republican who later declared himself an independent,
   also floated the possibility of a presidential candidacy in 2008, but
   won little support and abandoned the effort.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/new-york-michael-bloomberg-weighs-us-
   presidential-candidacy/3159831.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/new-york-michael-bloomberg-weighs-us-presidential-candidacy/3159831.html