Bloomberg campaign staff's future after dropout
Billionaire Mike Bloomberg dropped out of the 2020 race after a dismal Super Tuesday showing
Failed 2020 presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg could continue spending even after dropping out of the race after promising to support the eventual Democratic nominee, including through his large campaign staff.
Bloomberg threw his support behind fomer Vice President Joe Biden after dropping out on Wednesday.
HERE'S HOW MUCH BLOOMBERG SPENT ON THE 2020 RACE
President Trump poked fun at Bloomberg and his adviser Tim O'Brien over the news.
"Mini Mike Bloomberg will now FIRE Tim O’Brien, and all of the fools and truly dumb people who got him into this MESS. This has been the worst, and most embarrassing, experience of his life...and now on to Sleepy Joe!" Trump wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
Bloomberg had the largest campaign staff of any candidate as of January with 500 employees, according to NBC News. The staffers will not migrate to another campaign but are expected to be paid by a Bloomberg funding vehicle as they support the Democratic nominee.
Bloomberg's campaign paid roughly $8 million in salaries according to the latest FEC data, filed at the end of January.
Bloomberg will also use Hawkfish, the digital ad company he started in 2019, to fight Trump through the general election, NBC News reported.
Democratic presidential candidate former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg poses for a photograph with an audience member during a break in a FOX News Channel Town Hall at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas, Va., Monday, March 2, 2020. (A
Bloomberg, a billionaire who was self-funding his campaign, spent more than $450 million on his now-defunct run. He spent roughly twice what Trump has spent on his campaign and far more than rivals like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Bloomberg said he was willing to spend $1 billion of his own money in January.
"You know how much money a billion dollars is?" Bloomberg told The New York Times. "It's a lot of money to me. It's a lot of money to anybody."
Such a contribution from one man would be unprecedented. The 2016 White House race cost an estimated $2.4 billion, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Bloomberg is known as both a business magnate and philanthropist. He cofounded Bloomberg LP in 1981 along with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Zegar and a 30 percent stake by Merrill Lynch. The company is a privately held financial, software, data and media company. Bloomberg LP was hugely successful on the back of the Bloomberg Terminal.
Democratic presidential candidates participate in a presidential primary debate Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, in Las Vegas, hosted by NBC News and MSNBC. (AP Photo/John Locher)
The Bloomberg Terminal is a computer software system that delivers live coverage of markets and securities, allowing professionals to monitor and analyze real-time financial market data and place trades on the electronic trading platform.
BOOSTED BY BLOOMBERG, 2020 AD SPENDING TOPPLES $1 BILLION
Critics of Bloomberg say he had a "huge advantage" because of the donations he spread across the U.S. for years before his presidential run. Bloomberg founded and helps fund multiple activist organizations, including Everytown for Gun Control, Beyond Carbon (an anti-coal energy initiative) and Protect Kids (an anti-flavored e-cigarettes campaign).
Now that his campaign is suspended, Bloomberg will have more time to spend with longtime girlfriend Diana Taylor, a former New York banking superintendent. The couple has been together since 2000.
This story used materials from previous FOX Business reports.