Michael Bloomberg running for president? Report says he's considering

He has considered running in the past, but didn't think he could win. But now, "a confluence of unlikely events in the 2016 election ... has given new impetus to his presidential aspirations," according to The Times' Maggie Haberman and Alexander Burns.

The "unlikely events" are the rise of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, and of the fellow New York City billionaire Trump, the Republican front-runner.

The 73-year-old Bloomberg has reportedly said that he would be willing to spend $1 billion of his own money on a run for the White House, according to The Times. Bloomberg will reportedly decide on whether to go ahead with a campaign by early March. Any later entry might make it impossible for him to get on the ballot as an independent candidate in all 50 states.

A source familiar with Bloomberg's thinking told Business Insider in October that Bloomberg might run if he "sees a highly flawed field of candidates emerge." The sources said that if Trump looks set to take the Republican nomination and Sanders is primed to win the Democratic nomination, then Bloomberg would run. The Times added Saturday that Bloomberg would be likely to run in the event that Cruz wins the GOP nomination.