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Bloomberg will not run for presidency Michael Bloomberg will not run for president as independent
(35 minutes later)
Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg says he will not run for US presidency Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will not run as a third-party candidate for US president.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. He had recently considered running as an independent in the general election.
If you want to receive Breaking News alerts via email, or on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App then details on how to do so are available on this help page. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts. Mr Bloomberg said he was concerned about the unconventional and insurgent campaigns of Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders.
The owner of the Bloomberg news organisation said his candidacy would risk letting in Mr Trump or fellow Republican Ted Cruz.
He set out his reasoning in an article on his website on Monday entitled: "The risk I will not take".
Mr Bloomberg said that his run would split the vote. If there was no clear winner in the popular vote, it would create a situation where Congress would choose the president, he said.
"As the race stands now, with Republicans in charge of both Houses, there is a good chance that my candidacy could lead to the election of Donald Trump or Senator Ted Cruz," Mr Bloomberg wrote.
"That is not a risk I can take in good conscience."
Analysis: Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America reporter
In the end media tycoon Michael Bloomberg had to acknowledge what seemed obvious to many political observers. If he launched an independent presidential bid, he likely would hand the White House to someone like Donald Trump or Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
The New Yorker was overly optimistic about his ability to win enough states to throw a deadlocked election to the House of Representatives, but even if he did, outperforming almost every other third-party candidate in modern American history, the outcome would have been the same - a Republican president. Given the two leading candidates' extreme positions on immigration, he wrote, that was just too great a risk for him to take.
Mr Bloomberg's decision can also be read as a tacit acceptance that Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic presidential pick. News that he was considering a bid first surfaced as the former secretary of state stumbled in early nominating contests. Now, however, she seems to be pulling away from Bernie Sanders, whose democratic socialism runs counter to Mr Bloomberg's big-business centrism.
In his editorial, Mr Bloomberg criticised the Republican candidates' positions on immigrants and Muslims.
"[Trump] has run the most divisive and demagogic presidential campaign I can remember, preying on people's prejudices and fears," Mr Bloomberg wrote.
Mr Trump, the Republican front-runner, has pledged to deport nearly 11 million undocumented immigrant workers and called for a ban on Muslims entering the US.
Mr Bloomberg said Mr Cruz held many of the same extreme positions but with less "bombastic" rhetoric.
Formerly a Republican, Mr Bloomberg holds pro-business positions typical of the party. However, he has broken with Republicans on social issues such as gun rights and gay marriage.