Meet the top 100 business visionaries creating value for the world

42. Michael Bloomberg

Founder and CEO, Bloomberg LP

To many Americans, Michael Bloomberg is known as the former mayor of New York City and frequently rumored presidential candidate.

On Wall Street, the 74-year-old billionaire looms much larger. He’s the man behind the data, news, and chat service that traders and fund managers live and die by. Known simply as “The Bloomberg,” it’s estimated to rake in more than $9 billion in revenue for his company Bloomberg LP.

Started in 1981 to change the way bond data was gathered and reported, the company now has more than 15,000 employees around the world. The fact that it is nearly entirely owned by Mike Bloomberg means the company is able to champion causes important to its founder, like environmental sustainability and philanthropy. Last year, for example, it signed a 20-year wind-power purchase agreement with an upstate New York wind farm that Bloomberg says will save his company $10 million and avoid 340,500 metric tons of emissions.

The company’s success has also put Bloomberg on the path to being one of the country’s foremost philanthropists. After pledging to give away his wealth, he has already shelled out $4 billion — favoring causes like gun control, the environment, public health, and education — and barely made a dent in a fortune Wealth-X estimates at more than $40 billion.

Bloomberg LP also spends lavishly on its employees — a tradeoff for an intense and demanding work environment — with everything from well-stocked food pantries and wellness coaches in-house, to generous retirement and healthcare benefits and philanthropic support to causes that matter.