Bloomberg Gets Something for His $1 Billion Spending Spree: a DNC Speaking Slot

Former New York City mayor-for-life and onetime presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg announced that he would be speaking at the Democratic National Convention next week, in an email to supporters on Thursday pledging to share “why we have the best candidates to meet today's challenges and get big things done.” Bloomberg, a former Republican and one of the world’s richest men, started a last-minute self-funded bid to win the Democratic presidential nomination earlier this year in which spent over a billion dollars, and pledged to spend even more in support of the eventual Democratic candidate if he failed in pursuing the nomination himself. But after a mere 100-day campaign and humiliating results on Super Tuesday—the tycoon won only a single primary in American Samoa, despite flooding the airwaves with advertisements and hiring thousands of employees—Bloomberg dropped out and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for the nomination.