Mike’s Story
Michael R. Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and three-term mayor of New York City whose innovations in business, government, and philanthropy have made him a global leader on climate change, public health, education, and other critical issues facing America and the world. He has given away $17.4 billion so far, with $3 billion distributed in 2023 alone.
Meet Mike
Born in Boston on February 14, 1942, Mike Bloomberg grew up in a middle-class home in Medford, Massachusetts, and graduated from Medford High School. His drive to succeed, love of work, and passion for service began at a young age. When he was 12 years old he became one of the youngest Eagle Scouts in history. To help pay his way through Johns Hopkins University, he worked in a parking lot and took out government loans. After college, he attended Harvard Business School and in 1966 was hired by a financial services firm, Salomon Brothers, for an entry-level job.
Bloomberg quickly rose through the ranks at Salomon, overseeing equity trading and sales before heading up the firm’s information systems. When Salomon was acquired in 1981, he was let go. It turned out to be a moment that would define the rest of his life. The next day, with the idea for a technology company that would bring greater transparency and fairness to the financial system, he launched a small startup in a one-room office. Today, Bloomberg LP is a global company that employs some 20,000 people in 120 countries.
Lifting New York City
In 2001, just weeks after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Bloomberg was elected mayor of New York City. He and his team rallied New Yorkers and led the city’s resurgence, writing one of the great comeback stories in American history. He turned around a broken public school system by raising standards and making new investments in schools. He spurred economic growth and record levels of job creation by revitalizing old industrial areas, helping small business open and expand, and connecting New Yorkers to new skills and jobs. Thanks to policies he put in place, the city recovered from the global recession far faster and stronger than the country overall.
A life of influence and impact
Upon leaving City Hall, Bloomberg returned to the company he founded while also devoting more time to philanthropy, which has been a top priority for him throughout his career. Today, Bloomberg Philanthropies employs a unique data-driven approach to global change that grows out of his experiences as an entrepreneur and mayor. Bloomberg has pledged to give away nearly all his money during his lifetime and has so far donated $17.4 billion to a wide variety of causes and organizations.
Bloomberg is one of America’s most fearless and effective voices on urgent issues, including climate change, gun violence, and public health. He serves as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, and has helped lead several climate finance organizations, such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. Bloomberg is also the WHO Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries. In 2020, he launched a series of efforts to help fight the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. and around the world, including committing $40 million to help low- and middle-income countries prevent the spread of the disease. The gun safety group he helped found, Everytown for Gun Safety, now has 10 million supporters and is the largest coalition of Americans fighting for common-sense gun laws. His partnership with the Sierra Club has helped retire more than two-thirds of U.S. coal-fired power plants and replaced many of them with clean energy, saving lives and creating new jobs. Since he began working with partners in Europe, over half of all coal plants have closed there, too, and he has extended his support for clean air and clean energy to more regions around the world.
Bloomberg serves as chair of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Board, which provides strategic insights and recommendations on technology and innovation that help address national security priorities.