Sunday, January 17, 2010
According to internal campaign documents New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent $108,371,685.01 dollars (€75m, ?66m) on his recent campaign for reelection. A large percentage of the money spent went to victory bonuses for his staff. In the 2009 election Bloomberg beat his opponent Bill Thompson by 50,597 votes.
This is the most that the billionaire has spent on any of his mayoral bids, US$85 million in 2005 and $74m in 2001. Approximately US$186 (€129, ?114) was spent per vote during the election, compared to $112 in 2005 and $100 in 2001. In contrast Bill Thompson had only spent approximately $9 million, or $13 per vote.
The campaign was personally financed by Bloomberg himself who has a net-worth of $17.5 billion. The campaign is the second most costly election in history, beaten by the $650 million election of Barack Obama.