He's taken away our cigarettes and trans fats, but Mike Bloomberg is the most giving man in America.
Billionaire Bloomberg, who's massive wealth has so far secured two terms as New City's mayor, personally gave away $235 million in 2008, more than any living individual, according to a list released Monday by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
"As the economy took a turn from bad to worse, I felt it was the right time — the essential time — for someone like me, someone who's been so fortunate in my own life, to step up and give back even more," Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement. "I don't think of it only as a responsibility, but as a privilege."
More than 1,200 organizations were the beneficiaries of the mayor's largesse, ranging from a children's hospital at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore; the Robin Hood Foundation, a New York organization that to fight poverty; and Stand Up to Cancer of a Pasadena, Calif.
New Yorkers Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley's charitable trust was the most giving organization in the country, with a total bequest of $5.2 billion.
