Born on February 14, 1942 in Boston and raised by middle-class parents in Medford, Massachusetts, Michael Bloomberg was taught at an early age the values of hard work and civic responsibility. He attended Johns Hopkins University, where he paid his tuition by taking loans and working as a parking lot attendant during the summer. After college, Mike went on to receive an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 1966, he was hired by Salomon Brothers to work on Wall Street.

Mike Bloomberg quickly rose through the ranks at Salomon, where he eventually oversaw the trading firm's information systems, using his lifelong interest in technology and gaining a keen understanding of the importance of innovation to a successful business. In 1981, Salomon was acquired, and Mike was squeezed out by the merger. With a vision of an information company that would use emerging technology to bring transparency and efficiency to Wall Street's trading firms, Michael Bloomberg founded Bloomberg LP in 1981. Today, Bloomberg LP has over 250,000 subscribers to its financial news and information service. Headquartered in New York City, the company now has 9,500 employees in more than 100 cities.

As his company grew, Mike started directing more of his attention to philanthropy. He soon became a generous donor of his time and resources, and he has sat on the boards of numerous charitable, cultural, and educational institutions, including Johns Hopkins University, where the prestigious School of Hygiene and Public Health was renamed the Bloomberg School of Public Health in recognition of Mike's dedication and commitment to health care issues.

Already deeply involved in civic affairs, Michael Bloomberg officially entered public life in 2001, when he was elected the 108th Mayor of the City of New York. While many wondered about New York's future after the attacks of 9/11, Mayor Bloomberg brought a forward-looking agenda and optimistic spirit to his job and provided the leadership necessary to get New Yorkers through this uncertain time.

He took bold action to create jobs and help the economy grow. He wrested control of New York's schools from the unaccountable Board of Education. He built affordable housing, expanded parkland, improved efficiency in the City's agencies, and made America's safest metropolis even safer. Mike Bloomberg moved New York forward with an independent, fiscally responsible, non-partisan style of leadership.

In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg was re-elected by the broadest, most diverse coalition of support in the history of America's largest city. Endorsed by every major newspaper and nearly every major labor group, business association and advocacy organization, Mike's victory united New Yorkers of every ethnicity, from every neighborhood, and from every political party behind his vision of a better future.

In his second term, Mike continues to build on the successes of his first four years. He is keeping New York's economy strong and its streets the safest of any large city in the country. And in addition to continuing major initiatives in affordable housing, public health and education, he has launched a major anti-poverty campaign, developed a long-term plan for a sustainable, environmentally sound New York, and co-founded a bipartisan national coalition to fight against illegal guns.