Michael R. Bloomberg

Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, World Health Organization Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases, and three-term mayor of New York City

Michael R. Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who served as mayor of New York City for three terms. The technology startup he launched in 1981 to provide real-time data and analysis to the financial services industry has grown into a global company that now employs over 19,000 people in 73 countries. He led the company for 20 years before entering public service full-time, and since leaving City Hall in 2013, has resumed leadership of Bloomberg LP.

Bloomberg was elected mayor of New York City less than two months after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Under his leadership, the city rebounded faster and stronger than expected. His administration raised high school graduation rates by 40 percent, cut crime by a third, and increased life expectancy by three years. His economic policies, which supported entrepreneurs, small businesses, and emerging industries such as tech and bioscience, helped to create a record number of jobs. Committed to making New York City resilient, Bloomberg implemented PlaNYC, a groundbreaking strategic sustainability plan. Ultimately, he reduced the city’s carbon footprint by nearly 20 percent while increasing park and pedestrian space, undertaking the planting of over 1 million trees, and restoring large swaths of New York City’s waterfront as a “sixth borough.”

Bloomberg has been strongly committed to philanthropy throughout his career. His foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, employs a unique data-driven approach, often focused on cities, to its five main focus areas: public health, education, the environment, the arts, and government innovation. Bloomberg also leads a number of bi-partisan coalitions that are taking action on urgent national and international issues, illegal guns, immigration reform, and infrastructure investment.

A passionate supporter of action on climate change, Mike Bloomberg is involved in multiple climate efforts, including partnering with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, which aims to close half of America’s coal-powered energy production, and supporting state efforts to transition to renewable energy sources. Bloomberg has been at the forefront of involving the financial community in climate change, serving as Chair of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, and co-founder of the Risky Business Project.

The bulk of Bloomberg’s climate change efforts are focused on cities. In 2014, Bloomberg was appointed to be the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, and went on to create the Compact of Mayors (now the Global Covenant of Mayors). The Covenant, as well as the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, of which Bloomberg is president, are both network of cities committed to meeting ambitious climate-related goals and assessing their progress using common measurements. Bloomberg is co-author, with Carl Pope, of Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet.

Bloomberg graduated from Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Business School.