Michael Bloomberg Says He Might Run for President. Again.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the eighth richest man in the US, is officially considering a run for president. Again.

Bloomberg, 73, confirmed to the Financial Times on Monday that he is taking a look at running as an independent this year. Speculation around a possible Bloomberg bid has been swirling since the New York Times reported last month, citing unnamed allies of his, that he had asked political advisers to look into the possibility of a third-party bid. Bloomberg commissioned a poll in December to see how he might fare in the race, the Times reported.

But Monday marks the first time that Bloomberg himself has copped to his potential presidential aspirations for 2016.

As the Atlantic noted last year, we've heard this before. Bloomberg allies have been floating his name and laying the groundwork for a potential Bloomberg White House bid since 2007, only for the Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent to eventually decline to jump into the race. In 2010, Bloomberg told Katie Couric that he would not run for president -- adding in a follow-up question -- "ever" and said he wasn't worried about that tape coming back to haunt him.

2016, however, is a very different race than either the 2008 or 2012 contests. The rise of Donald Trump and former Independent Bernie Sanders certainly show a greater strength for unconventional candidates than we've seen in recent history.

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who once chaired the Democratic National Committee and now backs Hillary Clinton for president, told the Times last month that he sees a potential opening for Bloomberg. "Mike Bloomberg for president rests on the not-impossible but somewhat unlikely circumstance of either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz versus Bernie Sanders," Rendell said.

But Bloomberg would face an uphill battle as an independent candidate. For one thing, the United States has never elected an independent to the presidency. Even Sanders, who serves in the Senate as an independent, has said he decided not to turn as a third-party candidate because he wanted to "win".

And his policy positions could be problematic as well, particularly for traditionally Republican voters, given his support for abortion rights and same-sex marriage. Bloomberg is also the founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns and its accompanying PAC, which he formed to counter the National Rifle Association. As for Democrats, Bloomberg's wealth and ties to Wall Street, as well as his repeated defense of the controversial stop-and-frisk program as mayor, could be an issue for liberal voters.

Bloomberg, like Donald Trump, could personally finance a presidential campaign. The former mayor is worth an estimated $38.6 billion according to Forbes and would be the richest presidential candidate in history. As the eighth richest man in America, Bloomberg's finances would blow Trump's wealth out of the water; Trump ranks at number 121 on that Forbes list.

Bloomberg and his allies have not yet released the results of the poll he conducted in December, but public polling doesn't paint a good picture of his chances. A poll conducted by Morning Consult just two weeks ago, showed Bloomberg trailing as the third candidate in both a Sanders-Trump race and in a Clinton-Trump race, earning just 13 and 12 percent of the vote in each respective scenario.

According to the Times, Bloomberg will conduct another poll after the New Hampshire primary, which takes place Tuesday, to get a better sense of his chances. Bloomberg's associates told the paper that he would need to make a decision "in early March".

Follow Sarah Mimms on Twitter @SarahMMimms.