And in part because of his enormous fortune.

Now, as Mr. Bloomberg campaigns for president, his disdain for convention is once again on display, most obviously in the more than $200 million in advertising that has helped him rise in the polls while participating in neither the Democratic debates nor early primary contests.

He has also asked for, and been granted, approval from the Federal Election Commission to delay release of his personal financial disclosures. The extension — Mr. Bloomberg’s second such reprieve — is particularly convenient because it means he won’t be required to make public his extensive financial holdings and potential conflicts of interest until after Super Tuesday, when Democrats in 14 states and American Samoa will hold primaries and caucuses.

Mr. Bloomberg has put his billions to good use, generously supporting public health and gun safety campaigns, as well as efforts to combat climate change. And money devoted to defeating President Trump is money well spent. Mr. Bloomberg has said that if his own candidacy fails, he is willing to spend $1 billion to back the Democratic nominee, even if it is someone with whom he has substantial policy disagreements. All that is to be applauded.

But some other aspects of Mr. Bloomberg’s campaign need to change.

Most concerning, he has misstated his record on stop-and-frisk, the policing tactic that humiliated hundreds of thousands of innocent New Yorkers, overwhelmingly young black and Latino men.

“Now as all of you know, in my determination to reduce gun violence, we employed a common big-city police practice called stop-and-frisk, and that resulted in far too many innocent people being stopped,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a speech in Tulsa, Okla., on Jan. 19. “And when I realized that, we took action.”