Billionaire businessman and part-time Bermuda resident Michael Bloomberg has pulled out of the US presidential race.

Mr Bloomberg announced he would withdraw from the battle for the Democratic nomination for candidate to take on Donald Trump and thrown his weight behind rival Joe Biden, vice-president under Barack Obama.

Mr Bloomberg’s decision came after Mr Biden’s massive victory in the North Carolina primary, which gave new life to his campaign for the nomination and also caused other candidates to drop out of the race and endorse him instead.

Mr Bloomberg, a former mayor of New York, who owns a home in Tucker’s Town, said in a letter to supporters yesterday: “Three months ago today, I entered the race for president to beat Donald Trump.

“Today, I am leaving the race for the same reason — to defeat Donald Trump because it is clear to me that staying in would make achieving that goal more difficult.”

After yesterday’s vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden.”

Mr Bloomberg spent more than half a billion dollars of his estimated $60 billion fortune in the first 100 days of his campaign.

He has hinted he could put as much as a billion dollars into the race — even if he is not a candidate — and promised to keep the massive campaign machinery he assembled in place to assist whoever wins the nomination.