Michael Bloomberg's anti-soda crusade could have gone global.
Last year, when then-World Bank president Robert Zoellick decided to step down, President Obama’s chief of staff asked the New York City mayor if he wanted the job, New York reports. Bloomberg reportedly turned down the position, one traditionally picked by the president, because he "did not want to have a boss, and he’d already begun to retool his life for his post-mayoralty."
Bloomberg is just one of many prominent names rumored to have been considered for the post. Before Obama eventually handed the post to former Dartmouth President Jim Yong Kim -- an obscure choice that surprised some -- other potential candidates included more prominent public names like Larry Summers and Hillary Clinton.
Bloomberg’s staff has already previously acknowledged that the mayor had been in touch with the White House about the job, according to The New York Times. The New York report more conclusively identifies the intermediaries.
"He's not interested in the job," Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said at the time, according to the NYT. "[H]e’s told people who have reached out as intermediaries that he already has the best job in the world."
Another possible move for Bloomberg post-mayorship? Buying more media properties. The billionaire, whose Bloomberg LP owns Bloomberg News, Businessweek and other smaller media companies, may be considering buying the Financial Times, according to the New York piece. People have also floated his name as a possible savior for the sometimes-struggling NYT, rumors the mayor has repeatedly shot down.