American media mogul Michael Bloomberg will be needing his rest and relaxation breaks at his Tucker's Town home all the more after winning the race to become New York mayor on Tuesday.

The finance wizard spent $50 million of his estimated $4.5 billion personal fortune to plug the message that he was the candidate to build on the success of crime-busting crisis-manager Rudolph Giuliani.

Divorced with two daughters aged 18 and 22, Bloomberg earned some notoriety in social and media circles for his lavish parties, glamorous girlfriends and off-colour remarks that became a campaign issue.

The political newcomer boasted he has probably had more dealings with more governments around the world than anyone else on Earth.

He also showed flashes of impatience, snapping that other candidates "don't make anything" when pressed about why their tax returns were released while his were kept from the public.

Often he found himself on the defensive, haunted by sexual harassment lawsuits by three former employees, all of which were dismissed or settled.

Bloomberg, 59, knows how to turn on the charm, reportedly wooing well-to-do neighbours here in Bermuda with roses to stem concern over noisy construction work during the building of his Tucker's Town home.

Bloomberg claimed throughout the election that because of his experience running his company, which has estimated annual revenues of $2.3 billion and employs a staff of more than 8,000, he knew how to shore up New York's budget and rebuild its financial district.

Bloomberg first made his name and money as a Wall Street trader and, after he left Salomon Brothers in 1981 with a severance package of $10 million, he founded Bloomberg LP news and information company.

His financial news services are widely used in Bermuda. He is reported to belong to two Bermuda clubs but inquiries yesterday revealed they were not the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dingy Club or the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club.

To enter the election campaign as a Republican candidate, the Boston-area born Bloomberg gave up his lifelong membership and patronage of Democratic Party causes in a city in which Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than five-to-one.

After the World Trade Centre attacks, he cast himself as the candidate with the business acumen to lead the city's recovery from the worst crisis in its history.

Toward the end of a campaign interrupted by the September 11 plane attacks, he received Giuliani's endorsement in the race against veteran Democratic politician Mark Green, turning the contest into one of the closest for mayor of the largest city in the United States with eight million people. Only three Republicans had been elected New York City mayor in 100 years.

Raised in a middle class household, Bloomberg worked as a parking lot attendant while studying at Johns Hopkins University and later graduated from Harvard University's business school.

That money in hand, he built Bloomberg LP, a company that grew worldwide and became a worthy competitor to well-established financial news companies such as Reuters and Dow Jones.

In New York, Bloomberg lives in a posh five-story town house on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

While Bloomberg quit as chairman of the privately held company in March, he remains the chief executive. Bloomberg LP now includes desktop information services, magazines, books, TV and radio stations. He still owns more than 75 percent of the firm, and it remains to be seen what he will do with his stake once he takes over City Hall on January 1.