U.S. billionaire and third-term New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Sunday denied he will run for president in 2012, capping recent speculations that he might launch a bid as an independent.

“I’m not looking at the possibility of running (for president). I’ve got a great job. And I’m going to stay with this,” the 68- year-old billionaire said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

There have been reports in recent days that Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P., a financial news and information services media empire, is taking a serious look at the possibility of running for president in 2012.

There has been no serious challenge, at least at this point, for President Barack Obama’s re-election bid, even though his approval rating has remained below 50 percent for months, far below the rate of nearly 70 percent at the beginning of his presidency.

But analysts believe an independent challenger may appeal to independent voters who have shown dissatisfaction with both Democratic and Republican parties for their highly partisan way of doing business in Washington.

Bloomberg, currently an independent, has so far twice switched his party affiliation. A lifelong Democrat before seeking elective office, Bloomberg switched his registration in 2001 and ran for mayor as a Republican, winning the election that year and a second term in 2005. He left the Republican Party in June 2007 to become an independent.

The mayor also expressed his support for Obama’s controversial tax-cut deal with Republicans, something that has drawn strong criticism from the liberal wing of his own party.

“At least both sides of the aisle and both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue have come together to do something in a bipartisan way,” he said. “And I’m sure the president would have liked other things, but the real world of governing is to do what is possible and everybody getting something, nobody getting 100 percent of what they want.”