Bloomberg Philanthropies is a philanthropic organization that encompasses all of the charitable giving of founder Michael R. Bloomberg. Headquartered in New York City, Bloomberg Philanthropies focuses its resources on five areas: the environment, public health, the arts, government innovation and education. According to the Foundation Center, Bloomberg Philanthropies was the 10th largest foundation in the United States in 2015, the last year for which data was available. Bloomberg has pledged to donate the majority of his wealth, currently estimated at more than $54 billion. Patti Harris is the CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies.
History While working at Bloomberg L.P., Bloomberg donated much of his wealth to medical research, education and the arts. He also sat on the boards of numerous charitable organizations. Beginning in 2004, Bloomberg appeared on Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of top 50 Americans who had donated the most money that year. Between 2004 and 2011, Bloomberg was listed as a top 10 American philanthropist each year.
For two consecutive years, in 2023 and 2024, Bloomberg was listed as having given to the most charitable causes; in 2024, he distributed $3.7 billion through the Bloomberg Philanthropies to various organizations, schools, and initiatives.
Since 2006, the headquarters has been located at Stuyvesant Fish House on East 78th Street in Manhattan.
Initiatives Bloomberg Philanthropies directs its resources to five issue areas: the environment, public health, the arts, government innovation and education.
Environment Bloomberg Philanthropies has focused on combating climate change and moving toward clean energy sources. In 2011, the foundation partnered with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign by donating $50 million toward shutting down coal-fired power plants. On April 8, 2015, Bloomberg Philanthropies increased its support of the Beyond Coal campaign with a $30 million pledge, in order to accelerate the goal of closing and replacing half of all U.S. coal power plants with clean energy by 2017. Beyond Coal expanded into Europe in summer 2017 with a goal of phasing out the use of coal on the continent by 2030. The campaign marked the closure of the last coal-burning power plant in Austria in 2020. 2020 also saw the expansion of Beyond Coal into Asia including the launch in of Korea Beyond Coal in September of that year. In September 2023, Michael Bloomberg announced that Bloomberg Philanthropies would commit an additional $500 million to Beyond Carbon to 'finish the job on coal."
Building on the momentum of the Beyond Coal work, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched Beyond Carbon, taking aim at natural gas and combustion-driven cars. In September 2022, launched Beyond Petrochemicals, a campaign to halt permits for and construction of plastics and petrochemical plants. The campaign supports efforts already underway by local communities in Louisiana, Texas and Appalachia. Bloomberg Philanthropies pledged $85 million to the efforts and is focused on blocking construction of more than 120 planned petrochemical plants.
Bloomberg Philanthropies partnered with RadicalMedia to produce the 2017 documentary "From the Ashes." the film was distributed by National Geographic and debuted at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. The film appeared in theaters and aired on National Geographic in summer 2017. In conjunction with the film, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a new commitment and crowdfunding campaign to support "entities backing economic development in communities that are historically dependent on the coal industry, and have suffered as plants have closed." In 2018, Bloomberg Philanthropies again partnered with National Geographic and Radical Media for a follow-up documentary, “From Paris to Pittsburgh.” The film examined the social and economic impacts of climate change-fueled natural disasters, from the heartland to the nation's coastlines.
Bloomberg Philanthropies also partners with the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, where Bloomberg is the former chairman, to curb carbon emissions in major cities around the world. In 2012, Bloomberg Philanthropies made a $6 million donation to the Environmental Defense Fund to help secure strong state-level regulations for hydraulic fracturing. Bloomberg has stated his support for "responsible" fracking as an alternative to coal power. In January 2014, Bloomberg Philanthropies committed $53 million to Vibrant Oceans Initiative over the course of five years to help reform fisheries and increase sustainable populations. In April 2014, Bloomberg Philanthropies invested $5 million in Little Sun, a solar-powered lamp company founded by artist Olafur Eliasson and entrepreneur Frederik Ottesen.
In June 2017, after President Donald Trump announced plans to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, Bloomberg Philanthropies Founder Mike Bloomberg unveiled plans to honor the nation's commitment through a network of governors, mayors and businesses. The alliance, known as America's Pledge was coordinated by Bloomberg Philanthropies. In cooperation with the Rocky Mountain Institute and the World Resources Institute, America's Pledge monitored climate activity and issued a series of reports in keeping with the climate accord's data requirements. When President Joe Biden took office in 2021 and announced plans to rejoin the climate agreement, America's Pledge and another Bloomberg Philanthropies led climate initiative called We Are Still In joined forces to become America is All In.
In October 2020, Bloomberg Philanthropies was announced as one of the alliance partners of Prince William's Earthshot Prize, to find solutions to environmental issues. Since then, the organization has co-hosted an innovation summit to announce the finalists for the annual prize. The Prize awards one million pounds to five winners each year making major progress in five areas focused on climate solutions.
In May 2022, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a $242 million expansion into its efforts to help the world transition to clean energy. The announcement, made during the Sustainable Energy for All forum in Kigali, Rwanda, announced the investment will expand current energy transition efforts to 10 countries. These include Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey, and Vietnam. The initiative will focus on delivering data and research to governments and decision makers to aid and accelerate renewable investments; developing public awareness; working with countries to implement transition policies through international collaboration; launching clean energy pilot projects; and exploring strategies to phase out coal use. Key partners include Sustainable Energy for All and ClimateWorks Foundation.
Bloomberg Philanthropies and eight other foundations announced in June 2022 they would partner on a $1 billion commitment to support ocean conservation and marine protection. The Washington Post reported the commitment was “roughly equal to all philanthropic giving for marine protected areas and habitat protection over the past decade.”
In April 2023, Bloomberg Philanthropies pledged $50 million to support “The New York Climate Exchange” (“The Exchange”) on Governors Island in New York City. The Exchange — a $700 million, 172-acre international center for developing and deploying dynamic solutions to the global climate crisis — is set to open in 2028.
Public health Led by epidemiologist Kelly J. Henning, the Bloomberg Philanthropies public health program has focused on reducing tobacco use through the MPOWER tobacco control strategy, making roads safer and eradicating polio, among other public health initiatives. In March 2012, the foundation donated $220 million to fight tobacco use over a four-year period. Following new commitments in December 2016, Bloomberg Philanthropies reached a total of $1 billion in its campaign to reduce tobacco use, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In March 2013, Bloomberg Philanthropies donated $100 million to help the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation eradicate polio worldwide. An additional $100 million was later pledged to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative at a December 2025 event in Abu Dhabi.
In 2009, Bloomberg Philanthropies partnered with the World Health Organization to donate $125 million to reduce traffic-related fatalities. Further commitments were made in 2014, 2020, and 2026, bringing its total investment in the initiative to $865 million. The new funding is intended to expand road-safety and cycling interventions to 13 countries and more than 30 cities.
Bloomberg Philanthropies has also supported initiatives to improve women's health. In July 2012, the foundation committed $50 million to the Global Family Planning Initiative, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation program focused on providing obstetric care and contraceptives to women in developing countries. This contribution came after Bloomberg pledged $250,000 to support Planned Parenthood in February 2012. In October 2012, the foundation also donated $8 million to the Bloomberg Philanthropies Maternal Health Program, which focuses on reducing maternal deaths in Tanzania. In March 2014, Bloomberg Philanthropies expanded its work in Tanzania and to provide reproductive health services in Africa and Latin America.
Beginning in 2012, Bloomberg Philanthropies pledged $16.5 million toward the Obesity Prevention Program, a three-year effort to support public health policies aimed at reducing obesity in Mexico, which has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world. With support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Mexican health leaders and activists mounted a national health campaign against soda consumption and successfully lobbied for the passage of a national sugar-sweetened beverage tax. In 2014 - the first year of the tax - purchases of sugary drinks in Mexico dropped by up to 12%.
In January 2014, the Obesity Prevention Program and other health advocates in Mexico successfully lobbied for the passage of an 8% tax on high calorie snacks, which was intended to work in tandem with the 2014 soda tax to reduce unhealthy food purchases nationwide. In June 2015, a study by researchers at Mexico's National Institute of Public Health and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill showed a corresponding average reduction of 5.1% in purchases of all food items subject to the junk food tax. Following the tax's implementation, lower-income households in Mexico purchased 10.2% less junk food, while medium-income households bought 5.8% less overall.
On March 23, 2015, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the four-year, $100 million Data for Health initiative in partnership with the Australian government. The initiative's stated goal is to help 20 low and middle-income countries improve public health data collection and more effectively address public health problems. On June 21, 2016, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the official launch of health partnerships with the first 18 participant countries, which include China, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brazil, Ecuador, Malawi, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Rwanda, Solomon Islands, Tanzania, and Zambia.
In 2012, Bloomberg Philanthropies began drowning prevention efforts in Bangladesh, the leading cause of death for children there. A partnership was later set up with the Centre of Injury Prevention and Research. The project focuses on providing childcare and swimming lessons to children. According to The Daily Telegraph, child drowning deaths have been reduced by 80% as a result. Drowning prevention efforts in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Uganda, Vietnam and the US received an additional $60 million in funding in 2024.