While most candidates and campaigns spend a great deal of time and money on raising the resources a campaign needs to simply operate, Bloomberg will not have those requirements. If he is truly willing to spend $1 billion on his White House bid, as has been suggested, that money is all net to the campaign—meaning that no fundraising costs need be deducted and that Bloomberg gets, in essence, a premium on his money.

Moreover, like Trump, Bloomberg is a nationally known politician and business leader who knows how to garner free media attention to drive his messaging. Unlike Trump, however (if The Donald ends up as the Republican nominee), Bloomberg would have no infrastructure and would have to build it from scratch in every state in which he chose to compete. Would that be a 50-state campaign? Perhaps not. The traditional presidential electoral map shows that only a dozen states are actually in play in a binary race between a Republican and Democrat. An independent would have to stretch that number—but he wouldn’t have to compete everywhere.

If Bloomberg is actually willing to commit 10 figures to a presidential run, he can compete on turf that has not been up for grabs in decades. That’s not to say it would be an easy fight, but the GOP nominee or Hillary Clinton could not ignore him in California, New York, Florida or Texas. If a “silent majority” truly exists, and they are disgusted with their options for the general election, Bloomberg could find his path down the middle.