Michael Bloomberg couldn't buy himself the presidency, but he sure as heck tried.
According to a Federal Election Commission filing made public Friday, the former New York City mayor transferred $936,225,041 of his own money to his campaign account throughout his presidential run. His campaign ended up spending $875,369,840 of that money, revealing an unprecedented amount of individual spending for a campaign that only lasted about three months.
Bloomberg took no money from individual contributors during his quest for the Democratic nomination. But as Friday reports indicated and Bloomberg's campaign later confirmed, Bloomberg decided to reverse his earlier campaign promise to pay his staffers through election day even if he dropped out. Instead of redirecting them to propel former Vice President Joe Biden to the nomination and presidency, Bloomberg's campaign is surpassing individual donor limits and shifting $18 million to the DNC instead.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.