Mayors, presidents and prime ministers – the businessmen who were tempted by a political career
- Donald Trump – President on USA
2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is an American billionaire businessman, television personality, author, and politician. The 70-year-old real estate mogul was born in Queens, New York. He went into business in 1971 and opened the Grand Hyatt in 1980, making him the city’s most famous entrepreneur.
He is chairman of The Trump Organization, which is the primary holding company for his real estate ventures and other business interests.
Trump has built hotels, casinos, golf courses and many other properties and even licensed his powerful Trump trademark. Trump announced his candidacy for the US presidency in 2015 and quickly emerged as the front-runner.
- Michael Bloomberg – mayor on New York
The founder, CEO and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, a financial data and media company, is a billionaire businessman, philanthropist and three the mandate mayor on New York.
With a net worth of about $44.3 billion, Bloomberg is the richest politician in the US, the 6th richest person in the US.
- Silvio Berlusconi – prime minister on Italy
Silvio Berlusconi is an Italian media mogul and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy. In 2016, Forbes magazine ranked him as the 188th richest person in the world.
Berlusconi’s business career began in construction. He started the cable TV company Telemilano, as well as Fininvest, which later grew into a national network of local TV stations. He also has stakes in life insurance, film production and was the owner of the Italian football club AC Milan from 1986.
- Mitt Romney – Congressman and candidate for President in USA
Co-founder of private equity firm Bain Capital, Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007.
He was also the Republican candidate in the 1994 Massachusetts election for the United States Senate. But he lost to Ted Kennedy, who released television clips of people who had been laid off by Romney’s company.
Under his leadership, Bain Capital invested in or acquired hundreds of companies, including household names such as Staples, Domino’s Pizza and The Sports Authority. He also served as CEO of his old consulting firm, Bain & Company.
Active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Romney serves as a bishop. He also served as president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
- Bidzina (Boris) Ivanishvili, candidate for President, Georgia
Ivanishvili began building his empire in the 1980s by selling computers before moving on to importing what was then an innovation in Russia – push-button phones. In 1990, Ivanishvili founded Rossiysky Kredit Bank with partner Vitaly Malkin and now owns a chain of Russian pharmacies and real estate interests in Moscow. In March 2011, Forbes estimated that Ivanishvili was worth $5.5 billion.
He founded and led the Georgian Dream coalition, which won the country’s parliamentary elections in 2012. But after the 2013 presidential election, he voluntarily resigned from both the government and the party.
Tags: Top business leaders turned politicians
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