Bloomberg slams Brexit as the stupidest act, apart from Trump election

US billionaire Michael Bloomberg has called Brexit  the “single stupidest thing any country has ever done” apart from the election of Donald Trump as US president, The Guardian newspaper reported.

Bloomberg argued that “it is really hard to understand why a country that was doing so well wanted to ruin it” with the Brexit vote. The former mayor of New York spoke at a conference two weeks ago, but the remarks were only reported Tuesday.

“My former wife was a Brit, my daughters have British passports, so we love England – it’s the father of our country, I suppose. But what they are doing is not good and there is no easy way to get out of it because if they don’t pay a penalty, everyone else would drop out. So they can’t get as good of a deal as they had before,” the paper quoted him as saying.

“I did say that I thought it was the single stupidest thing any country has ever done but then we Trumped it,” he added.

However, speaking to AFP on Tuesday as he unveiled his company’s new European headquarters in the city, Bloomberg said he believed London “will continue to be the financial center of Europe” even after Brexit.

“Paris will do well because some people will move to Paris and develop there — same thing with Frankfurt and Amsterdam and other cities,” he said .

“London will not do as well as they would have if they had stayed in the EU,” he conceded, but insisted Brexit would not “destroy” the city.

The capital will reap the benefits of its scale and English language, as well as its transport and communications systems, Bloomberg highlighted.

His reassurances comes at a time when Britain’s finance sector is anxious about losing the rights which allow large international banks to trade throughout the EU whilst being based in Britain.

The financial information company’s new European headquarters, designed by British architect Norman Foster, will welcome some 4,000 existing London employees into a single site at the heart of the City.

Built on top of of an ancient Roman temple renovated by the company during a decade of works, its two buildings stretch over seven levels.

Works of art, a giant spiral staircase and aquariums will all make the workplace “more exciting and more stimulating,” according to the company’s founder.

The site “has the highest rating in terms of sustainability, conservation of energy, recycling,” Foster told AFP.

“The ceiling, the facades, the floors… and the things you don’t see, all contribute to making this the greenest building of its kind,” he said.