The richest mayor on Earth just got richer.
Mayor Bloomberg’s net worth increased last year by a stunning $5 billion, making him the 13th wealthiest person on the planet, according to Forbes.
The magazine put the mayor’s worth at $27 billion, up from $22 billion in March 2012.
To place those mind-boggling sums in context, the gross domestic product of the 1.1 million residents of Cyprus in 2011 was $25 billion.
Bloomberg’s holdings were estimated at $5 billion when he took office in 2002 and gave up day-to-day operation of Bloomberg LP, the financial information services company he started from scratch in 1982.
As he always does when the talk turns to his money, the mayor shrugged off the results, which were released yesterday as part of Forbes’ annual ranking of the world’s 1,426 billionaires.
“The numbers of any of these things are always suspect,” said Bloomberg. “I’ve never liked any of these lists.”
Most of the mayor’s wealth is tied up in his company, which he largely owns and which recorded revenues of $7.9 billion last year by Forbes’ accounting.
“People think he could be worth a lot more,” said one source, who added that the privately held firm has been consistently undervalued.
During the economic meltdown in 2008, Bloomberg bought out Merrill Lynch’s 20 percent stake for $4.4 billion, leading analysts to peg the company’s overall value at $22 billion back then.
“It mattered from the first day he started campaigning,” City Councilman Jimmy Oddo (R-SI) said of the mayor’s worth.
“His wealth has made him a factor since day one. I don’t begrudge him it. Anyone who denies that is denying reality.”
But Hunter College professor Kenneth Sherrill said money alone couldn’t have transformed Bloomberg into a political powerhouse.
“There are dumb rich guys who think they can buy the mayoralty,” observed Sherrill.
“And there are other people who know how to use their brains and skills and use their wealth effectively. I think anybody who takes him lightly is awful foolish.”