The Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg
Three hundred invited guests attended a gala evening celebration for the 2010 Henry A. Kissinger Prize on May 11, awarded to Mayor of New York City, philanthropist, and businessman Michael R. Bloomberg. Among the evening’s attendees was Mayor Bloomberg’s Berlin counterpart, Mayor Klaus Wowereit, the entire American Academy board of trustees and spring 2010 Berlin Prize Fellows, ambassadors, top diplomats, and leaders from German business, members of Parliament, and dozens of journalists.
Mayor Bloomberg was chosen as the recipient for this year’s prize by the Academy’s board of trustees for his unique and lasting contributions to strengthening transatlantic relationship in the realms of business and philanthropy. Bloomberg’s enormous philanthropic initiatives to improve public health and education, his influential and groundbreaking style of governance, and his pioneering vision for a worldwide financial news information network have become models of giving, mayoral conduct, and farsighted business leadership.
At the podium for remarks during the evening were Academy co-chairmen Karl von der Heyden and Henry A. Kissinger, president and CEO Norman Pearlstine, former Federal President and Academy honorary chairman Richard von Weizsäcker, and Academy trustee and chairman of Georg Holtzbrinck Verlag, Stefan von Holtzbrinck. The entire 2010 Henry A. Kissinger Prize ceremony in honor of Mayor Bloomberg was generously underwritten by Bosch GmbH, Cerebus Deutschland GmbH, and by Dr. Pia and Klaus Krone.
Former President Richard von Weizäcker, recipient of the Henry A. Kissinger Prize in 2009, noted in his laudatio how Mayor Bloomberg’s already legendary philanthropic activity has benefited world health, public education, and, ultimately, the unity of Berlin and New York. “Your appearance in Berlin builds yet another bridge between our two great cities,” von Weizsäcker said, “Your contribution to global communication and efforts to enhance the democratic public sphere embody the spirit of this award and of our American Academy in Berlin. It is our hope that our recognition will inspire other public officials and global business leaders to follow your example.”
Stefan von Holtzbrinck delivered a laudatio for Mayor Bloomberg that narrated the rise of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg News. Bloomberg’s vision of information aggregation, efficient data distribution, and openness to client base, Holtzbrinck said, formed a sort of model for the widespread use of the internet, enabling the transformation of business practices and information sharing among professionals across the Atlantic and beyond.
