Bloomberg 'to announce US presidential run'

DUBLIN

Michael Bloomberg is planning a run for the U.S. presidency that would begin as early as next week.

A source with knowledge of company affairs at Bloomberg L.P., told Anadolu Agency that said senior officials at offices worldwide were clearing schedules for meetings to discuss a sudden change in the management structure at the company.

The source, who spoke to AA on condition of anonymity, was not authorized to discuss company matters on the record.

The multibillionaire owner of Bloomberg L.P. is preparing to hand over his responsibilities at the financial data and media company ahead of an announcement after Super Tuesday on March 1, a key date in the nomination process for the Republican and Democratic parties.

Bloomberg was planning to make his announcement on or after Super Tuesday, the source said.

Bloomberg, who distanced himself from his company in a similar fashion when he was elected mayor of New York City, has been rumored to be planning an independent presidential campaign for months.

At a private party last week, he expressed frustration about how the present presidential campaign is dominated by populist figures such as Donald Trump for the Republicans and the Democrats’ Bernie Sanders.

"A corrupt, gridlocked, and broken two-party system that answers to lobbyists and special interests instead of the American people," he said recently. “That's why you see the current candidates out there doing well, and not the conventional ones,” he said, according to CNN. Bloomberg will have an uphill climb if recent polls hold true.

In an Associated Press-Gfk survey released earlier this just 7 percent of registered voters said they would vote for the billionaire.

The U.S. has never elected a third-party candidate for president but in 1992, another billionaire, Ross Perot managed just shy of 20 percent of the popular vote but failed to win a single state.