Submitted by philippe boucher, Jan 1, 2008 10:55

Since the Bloomberg Family Foundation will probably become a very important philanthropy it is interesting to know what it does with its money. Looking at what happened to the $125 that were given to tobacco control I am frustrated with the very limited amount of information that has been published about the grantees. Frustration has been expressed although obviously most people hoping to ever benefit from the Foundation keep their frustration to themselves. How can such a charity ensure a maximum of transparency and deal as frankly as possible with questions about the way the funds are managed? One answer seems to be: it is his money and he does whatever he wants with it and does not have to provide any explanation, nor feedback. Look for yourselves at the meager few pages that are available on line for the tobacco initiative. Coming from someone who build a world class communication empire this is an amazing failure. Of course the blame does not go directly to Michael Bloomberg as he obviously delegated the management of those funds to other people but the question remains (although nobody seems to care asking it and insisting upon an answer): where did the money go, who used it, for what, who manages the money (for what pay or no pay), etc.

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.