PoliticoMichael Bloomberg’s US$500 million anti-Trump moonshot

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Marc Caputo on politico.com on February 13, 2019.

Billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg is preparing to spend at least US$500 million from his own pocket to deny US President Trump a second term, according to Democratic operatives briefed on his plans.

Bloomberg has not yet announced whether he will run in the Democratic primary.

If he runs, he will use that half-billion-dollar stake – roughly US$175 million more than the Trump campaign spent over the course of the entire 2016 election cycle – to fuel his campaign through the 2020 primary season, with the expectation that the sum represents a floor, not a ceiling, on his potential spending.

If Bloomberg declines to seek the presidency, his intention is to run an unprecedented data-heavy campaign designed to operate as a shadow political party for the eventual Democratic nominee.

“That’ll get us through the first few months,” Kevin Sheekey, a top adviser to the former New York City mayor, told POLITICO when asked about the US$500 million plan, which is just 1 per cent of Bloomberg’s estimated net worth.

“Mike spent US$100 million in his last New York City election. And you can do the math as you think more broadly but New York City is 3 per cent of the national population,” Sheekey said.