Monday, June 15, 2015
Fusion OpEd Makes Case for New York Times Buying Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg has the kind of rich-person problem most of us can barely dream of. Namely, how will he fulfil his commitment to give away his $37bn fortune before he dies?
It’s harder than it looks. One possible solution might be for Bloomberg to retain the source of most of his wealth – his 88% stake in financial-information behemoth Bloomberg – and then bequeath the company, in his will, to the Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Philanthropies could then be charged with giving away the company’s profits every year.
But that doesn’t really work, for two reasons. Firstly, Bloomberg has vowed to give away his money before he dies. “My joke,” he has said, “is that I want to bounce the check to the undertaker.” More importantly, US philanthropies aren’t allowed to own for-profit companies in perpetuity. The Bloomberg Philanthropies would have to start trying to sell Bloomberg LP almost as soon as it came into their possession....