NYC Biz Leaders Search for Next Mayor/CEO

...but not very good at it, despite lots of study, practice, expense

(NEWSER) - Michael Bloomberg doesn’t like most sports, but he’s become consumed with that most clichéd of pursuits for rich 70-year-olds: golf. And he approaches the sport with the same success-at-all-costs doggedness with which he got himself elected mayor of New York, the New York Times reports. He hired professional golfers to train him, joined four exclusive clubs, bought a digital simulator to measure his swing, and practiced tirelessly. But none of it’s working. More»

(NEWSER) - Billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg added to a growing store of off-the-cuff comments yesterday when he defended the Obamas’ theater outing to his Big Apple by saying the president “lives on a budget,” the Times reports. Obama, who makes $400,000 a year, “does not get paid that much,” Bloomberg continued, before clarifying his comments. “The president is worth a lot more than we pay him.” More»

(NEWSER) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has already spent $18.7 million in his bid for a third term, outpacing his own 2005 campaign by 55%, the New York Daily News reports. The billionaire's three main competitors have spent a combined total of about $2.5 million, with controller William Thompson leading the way at $1.4 million. The election is 6 months away. More»

New York mayor got wealthier as rest of rich list top 20 got poorer

(NEWSER) - How does he do it? Last year was so bad for the world's billionaires that a third of them were demoted to mere multi-millionaires but Michael Bloomberg bucked the trend big time by actually increasing his wealth, the New York Daily News reports. The New York mayor, with an estimated net worth of $16 billion, is now the 17th-wealthiest person in the world, according to the latest Forbes rich list. More»

Washington pushed those shaky mortgages, 'plain and simple'

(NEWSER) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks Occupy Wall Street protesters are going after the wrong villains: "It was not the banks that created the mortgage crisis," he said today, according to Capital New York . "It was, plain and simple, Congress who forced everybody to go and give mortgages to people who were on the cusp." It might feel "cathartic" to blame Wall Street, he added, but the folks in DC "were the ones who pushed Fannie and Freddie to make a bunch of loans that were imprudent, if you will. They were the ones that pushed the banks to loan to everybody." More»