Michael Bloomberg lays out his succession plan: Billionaire ex-NYC Mayor, 81, plans to retire in three to five years and will leave his company to his charity when he dies – and it will then be sold

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has revealed he will leave his multi-billion dollar company to his philanthropic foundation upon his death.

Bloomberg unveiled his succession plans Thursday evening at a climate summit in New York, saying it was “common sense” to consider it at age 81.

The Bloomberg LP founder and former New York mayor, who shares two daughters Emma and Georgina with his ex-wife Susan Brown, said that when he dies his Bloomberg Philanthropies foundation would inherit the company.

Bloomberg, who revealed he plans to retire in three to five years, said the foundation would have to sell the company in the first five years for tax reasons.

His comments came on the same day fellow billionaire Rupert Murdoch announced he is stepping down as chairman of Fox and News Corp after 70 years – with second son Lachlan chosen by his father to take over the family’s media dynasty..

The Australian-born media mogul, 92, revealed he will take up the new role of chairman emeritus. He stated that the “time is right” to take on other responsibilities, while emphasizing that “our companies are in good health, just like me.”

From left to right: Georgina Bloomberg, Diana Taylor, Michael Bloomberg and Emma Bloomberg at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City

Bloomberg, who lives mostly in New York with his partner Diana Taylor, said at the Climate Summit hosted by the New York Times: “At 81, common sense says I should have succession plans.”

“I give virtually all of the company’s profits to the foundation, and the foundation gave away $1.7 billion last year,” added Bloomberg, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at $96 billion.

‘This year it will be a little more than that. But if I die, the foundation will inherit the company. Because of the tax laws, they’re going to have to throw it away and sell it somewhere for the first five years.”

Bloomberg, who has an 88 percent stake in the company, said he has no plans to sell the company in the near future. “I know exactly what I want to do,” he said.

The billionaire, who ran a presidential campaign in 2020, married Susan Brown, from Yorkshire, UK, in 1976 and the couple had two daughters Emma and Georgina before the couple split in 1993.

“They didn’t get along because their lives didn’t fit together,” Emma said Marie Claire in 2020. ‘My mother doesn’t always want to be social. She loved reading a book and not going out all week.’

But the couple remained “best friends” after the divorce, with Bloomberg helping Susan with at least two financial transactions worth $1 million in 2011, according to the New York Times.

‘My parents are best friends. No one understands that until they actually see it,” Emma said.

It was in 2000 that Bloomberg started dating his current partner Diana Taylor, whom he met at a business lunch. The couple now lives together in New York City.

Bloomberg recently announced his plans to pump $500 million into the next phase of his energy transition campaign, aiming to close “every last” coal-fired power plant in the United States and halve gas-fired capacity by 2030.

The $500 million infusion into his decade-long Beyond Carbon initiative aims to “finish the work on coal” by working with state and local organizations to close the approximately 150 coal-fired power plants that remain cannot be enforced, which will reduce current gas production by half. and blocking the construction of new gas-fired power stations.

The founder of Bloomberg LP and former mayor of New York shares two daughters Emma and Georgina with his ex-wife Susan Brown (pictured together)

Bloomberg has already spent more than $500 million in support of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, which originally aimed to retire 30% of the U.S. coal fleet by 2020.

The campaign ultimately saw more than 60% of coal-fired power plants retired by that year and $85 million spent on a similar mission to prevent the expansion of petrochemical plants in the US.

“Working together with our partners across the country, we hope to transform the way we power America by moving beyond fossil fuels and replacing them with renewable energy,” said Bloomberg, UN Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and -solutions.

The money would support lawsuits filed against utilities and energy companies by grassroots groups, state and local policy advocacy and funding to help local communities close coal-fired power plants, according to Bloomberg Philanthropies.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a climate summit during the annual high-level UN General Assembly that time was running out to tackle climate change, thanks in part to the “naked greed” of fossil fuel interests .