Michael Bloomberg. (Photo by Rubenstein, via Flickr.)
Michael Bloomberg. (Photo by Rubenstein, via Flickr.)

For a while at least, it appeared the tech sector might have rallied around a Michael Bloomberg campaign. The former mayor of New York and billionaire tycoon who made his fortune in technology, said in January he would consider a run, and at least to some in the tech sector, Bloomberg seemed liked an attractive alternative to Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

But Bloomberg announced Monday that he doesn’t think he could win and won’t enter the race. Where does that leave the tech sector? Well, some of the industry’s biggest players, were huddled last weekend with leaders of the Republican party to discuss ways to stop Trump, The Huffington Post has reported.

Among the tech notables who gathered on an island off the coast of Georgia last weekend for the American Enterprise Institute’s annual World Forum were Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google co-founder Larry Page, Napster cofounder and Facebook investor Sean Parker, and Tesla Motors chief Elon Musk. They were joined by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), political strategist Karl Rove, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.), Cory Gardner (Colo.), and Tim Scott (S.C.), the Post reported.

According to the Post, conservative columnist Bill Kristol wrote in an email from the conference: “A specter was haunting the World Forum–the specter of Donald Trump,” borrowing the opening lines of the Communist Manifesto. “There was much unhappiness about his emergence, a good deal of talk, some of it insightful and thoughtful, about why [Trump has] done so well, and many expressions of hope that he would be defeated.”

It certainly won’t be Bloomberg who defeats him.

In a piece posted to the web site of the news service he owns, Bloomberg said “When I look at the data, it’s clear to me that if I entered the race, I could not win.” Bloomberg added he believes he might win some states but he acknowledged that his candidacy might help Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz win the presidency. That is a scenario Bloomberg said he could not risk.

Bloomberg, who has an engineering degree, built his fortune, estimated to be worth $41 billion, on the Bloomberg Terminal, the computer system that provides real-time financial information to scores of bankers, stock traders and analysts. He used to say that as the CEO and founder of the company that bears his name, he operated New York’s most successful tech venture.

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