Report: Former Mayor Bloomberg may run for president

NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is publicly admitting that he is weighing a run for president of the United Stated. In an interview, the billionaire financial information company mogul told the Financial Times that he is "looking at all the options."

"I find the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal and an outrage and an insult to the voters," Bloomberg said in an interview with the FT. He said the public deserved "a lot better."

Bloomberg has flirted with running for president before by commissioning polls and more but never actually launched a campaign.

If he runs, he would likely run as an independent. The longtime Democrat switched his party affiliation to Republican before running for mayor in 2001. Several years later while still in office, he changed his registration to unaffiliated.

If he runs, he would need to start getting his name on state ballots in March. Bloomberg told the FT that he is "listening to what candidates are saying and what the primary voters appear to be doing."

Bloomberg served three terms as mayor from 2002 to 2013. He then returned to work at Bloomberg LP, the company he founded in the 1980s.