They might not be the richest people in the world, but these billionaires have tremendous sway over the world's markets, workers--and, in some cases, armies.
The authority and influence Michael Bloomberg wields is staggering.
As mayor of New York City--America's largest and most complex metropolis--he lords over more than 8 million people speaking 40 different languages within 305 square miles. He commands 311,000 city employees and an annual budget of $60 billion.
Since being elected in 2001, Bloomberg has resurrected New York from the wreckage of the 9/11 attacks, seized control of the city's schools, enforced a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, and taken serious strides to make the city a leader in
On any given day, he might negotiate a workers strike, coordinate various law-enforcement agencies' efforts to combat terrorist threats or handle another crisis (like, say, a commercial airplane crashing into the Hudson River).
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And he paid for this job. Bloomberg left his massive media and financial information company, Bloomberg LP, in 2001 to effectively buy City Hall when he chipped in $74 million of his own cash to run for mayor. (He threw in another $85 million to keep the gig four years later and recently convinced New York's City Council to allow him to run for a third term this year.)
While he's been mayor, Bloomberg LP has grown. Today, the firm has 10,000 employees in 126 global offices, providing most of the world's trading floors with financial data. Bloomberg's 88% stake in the company helped push his net worth to $20 billion last fall, making him one of America's richest men.
This combination of wealth, media influence and political prowess lofted Bloomberg atop the annual Forbes list of the most powerful billionaires in the world.
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