Michael R. Bloomberg is the 108th Mayor of New York City. He is also one of the nation’s leading philanthropists, independent political leaders, and is the founder of one of the world’s most successful technology companies.

Born on February 14, 1942 in Boston, and raised by middle-class parents in Medford, Massachusetts, Michael Bloomberg was taught the values of hard work and civic responsibility at an early age. He attended Johns Hopkins University, where he paid his tuition by taking out loans and working as a parking lot attendant. After college, Mike went on to receive an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 1966, at the age of twenty-four, he moved to New York City to take a job with Salomon Brothers, an investment bank.

Mike quickly rose through the ranks at Salomon, where he eventually oversaw the trading firm's information systems. In 1981, Salomon was acquired by another company, and Mike was squeezed out by the merger. He used that opportunity to start his own company – Bloomberg LP – and never looked back, turning his vision of an information company that would use emerging technology to bring transparency and efficiency to Wall Street's trading firms into a business with 250,000 subscribers to its financial news and information service. Headquartered in New York City, the company now has employees in more than 100 cities.

As his company grew, Mike began to devote more of his attention to the issues he felt passionate about, like education, public health, and environmental sustainability. 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. In 2009, the Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked him No. 4 on its list of the 50 most generous people in America.

Already deeply involved in New York civic affairs, Mike decided he could make an even bigger impact on the city by running for office and bringing his brand of independent leadership to City Hall. He defied the pundits and upset the entrenched political order by winning the votes of New Yorkers looking for leadership after the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

While many wondered about New York's future after the attacks of 9/11, Mayor Mike brought the forward-looking agenda, optimistic spirit, and independent leadership necessary to get New Yorkers through uncertain times.

• He took bold action to create jobs and diversify the economy
• He wrested control of New York's schools from the unaccountable Board of Education and instituted much needed reforms, leading to higher test scores and lower dropout rates
• He cut crime by over 30% while fostering positive community relations, protecting New Yorkers against terrorist attacks and making New York the “Safest Big City in America” according to the FBI
• He built affordable housing, expanded parkland, focused city government on customer service, and improved efficiency across city agencies
• To staunch the flow of illegal guns into the city, he focused efforts to crack down on criminals and formed a national coalition of mayors to fight for tougher gun laws
• To provide parents and students with more options and better information, he has opened new charter schools throughout the city and surveyed parents about the progress the schools are making
• And to create new jobs and help New Yorkers through these difficult times, he rezoned neighborhoods across the city to create new jobs and housing
• He developed a nine-point plan to create or save 400,000 jobs by providing small businesses with much-needed loans to allow them to stay in business, investing in infrastructure projects that provide New Yorkers with quality jobs, training workers for the jobs of the future and changing tax policies that discourage job creation.

Across all five boroughs, Mike continues to work hard to make each borough of New York City a great place to live and work, and in November 2009, Mike was re-elected for the third time as Mayor of America's largest city. Endorsed by every major newspaper and by a broad coalition of civic leaders, religious leaders, labor unions, policy groups and countless others, Mike's victory united New Yorkers of every ethnicity, from every neighborhood, and from every political party behind his vision of an even stronger future.