As he launches a new campaign to use his fortune to block the construction of petrochemical plants, Michael R. Bloomberg outlined the fate of his company, Bloomberg LP, after his death. He said his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, would inherit his multibillion-dollar company and then eventually sell it.
“At 81 years old, common sense tells me that I should have succession plans,” the former New York City mayor said Thursday at the New York Times Climate Summit in Manhattan.
“I donate virtually all of the company’s profits to the foundation, and the foundation donated $1.7 billion last year,” he added. “This year it will be a little more. But when I die, the foundation inherits the company. Because of tax laws, they have to get rid of it and sell it somewhere in the first five years.”
Mr. Bloomberg owns an 88 percent stake in the company behind Wall Street’s most popular data terminals, which had revenue of more than $12 billion in 2022. He said he has no plans to sell the company in the near future and hopes to continue working for at least three to five years. “I know exactly what I want to do,” he said.
Mr. Bloomberg recently pivoted his sites to block new petrochemical plants that make fertilizer, plastics and packaging. He said he chose to focus on this part of tackling climate change because it was “irrational” to believe the entire fossil fuel sector would simply disappear.
“We’re not going to phase out the use of oil in the next 10 or 15 years,” he said, “and we’re not going to say that everyone who has a gas-guzzling car can’t drive it anymore, and they will. Start running today. You have to be practical.”
Gina McCarthy, the former director of the Environmental Protection Agency, said on the same panel that targeting petrochemical plants could bring about immediate change.
“Let’s get real,” she said. “One of the reasons the campaigns Mike has sponsored work is because they bring the issue to the people level. I’m tired of arguing about greenhouse gas emissions. The problem is that people are unhealthy.”
Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., president and CEO of the youth activist group Hip Hop Caucus and senior adviser to Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Beyond Petrochemicals campaign, said targeting petrochemical plants would limit the damage to many communities, particularly communities of color.
“We have children dying of asthma and emphysema, we have the solutions,” said Reverend Yearwood. “It becomes almost disgusting when you then look at certain communities, fellow Americans, and say, ‘I can just bring this into this community and give them a death sentence.’ It’s not.”