NYC Mayor Bloomberg Gave $123 Mln to Charity in 2001, NYT Says
New York, June 8 (Bloomberg) -- New York Mayor Michael
Bloomberg last year donated $122.5 million to more than 540
organizations, including the American Red Cross, Johns Hopkins
University and the Boston Jewish Film Festival, the New York Times
reported.
Bloomberg's donations, which were made by Bloomberg, his
family foundation and Bloomberg LP, were 22 percent higher than in
2000, when he gave $100.5 million to charities, the paper said,
citing financial disclosure documents provided to news
organizations.
According to the documents, Bloomberg owns stakes worth over
$500,000 in large companies such as AOL Time Warner Inc.,
Citigroup Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. that are based in New York
and do business with the city. City officials are reviewing
Bloomberg's holdings to decide whether they create a conflict of
interest, the Times reported.
Bloomberg's communications director William Cunningham said
Bloomberg will sell the stakes if the city's Conflicts of Interest
Board decides the holdings create a conflict. Cunningham said the
``great bulk'' of Bloomberg's wealth stems from his 84.5 percent
ownership stake in Bloomberg LP, not from stock holdings.
Bloomberg, whose investments are managed by independent
investment advisers who don't inform him when they buy or sell,
lost money in Enron Corp., the bankrupt former energy trader
that's the subject of dozens of investigations, after buying an
unspecified number of shares for $13.91 on Oct. 29 and selling on
Nov. 28 for 45 cents a share. Bloomberg also lost more than
$500,000 on his investment in the movie ``Focus,'' based on Arthur
Miller's 1945 novel about anti-Semitism, the paper said.
Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP,
parent of Bloomberg News.
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