In 1966, soon after accepting a job at Salomon Brothers on Wall Street, a young Michael Bloomberg bought a $2,500 painting in installments of $25 a week, after the gallery owner took pity on him because he loved the painting but could not afford it all at once. Perhaps it was at this time that Bloomberg, recognizing how hard it is to own nice things while earning a middle-class salary, vowed to go make about $20 billion. [WSJ]
