Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg is seriously considering a third-party run for the presidency and has alerted advisers to draw up a plan for success, according to a report.
Bloomberg, 73, told friends he is prepared to spend as much as $1 billion to win the White House and set a deadline of early March for making a decision, the New York Times reported Saturday.
He commissioned a poll in December to see how he would compete with Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, but the poll’s results have not been disclosed.
The three-term mayor has flirted with higher office before.
He conferred with his advisers and launched polls to determine his electability for the presidency in 2008 and 2012, but decided against launching a bid. He also once flirted with the idea of running for mayor of London, after pols across the pond suggesting drafting him.