Sir Bob Geldof
Humanitarian, Entrepreneur and Nobel Man of Peace
Sir Bob Geldof is both an astute business mogul and a great humanitarian. In his talks, he distills lesson from his career as an entrepreneur, which has surged through the worlds of music, business, diplomacy and humanitarianism.
Sir Bob Geldof has created the Live Aid concerts, built a media empire (including the show Survivor), called urgent attention to the world's most vulnerable people, and been knighted by the Queen. Recently, all living Nobel Peace Prize winners voted him the Nobel Man of Peace, proclaiming that he "has harnessed world opinion to make political leaders act immediately, improving the lives of millions." To huge audiences—and to the inevitable frenzy of media attention—he empowers people with his inspiring, pragmatic message of accomplishing anything you set out to do (he was, after all, just one man, inflamed by a news report, when he started Live Aid).
Sir Bob Geldof's 1984 Live Aid concerts, for Ethiopian famine relief, united billions of people, and sent a resoundingly hopeful message around the world. Buoyed by our collective humanity, and Geldof's forceful practicality, the event raised millions, and changed the scope and ambition of humanitarianism. His Live8 concerts, watched by 2 billion people twenty years later, successfully pressured world leaders to pledge an additional $25 billion in aid to Africa. For his ongoing work to seek out long-term sustainable solutions to poverty and hunger, he was awarded the Red Cross Humanity Fellowship Award in 2007 (joining previous recipients Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela).
He managed his own band but also started a production company (Planet 24, now Tel Alps); he embraced Internet start-ups, but also raised millions of dollars, in one day, by attracting worldwide media attention; he can gather the planet's biggest stars for charity, but can also get table time with the world's political leaders. He has been an effective salesman, a prescient business mind and a visionary leader. With a passion borne of his rock roots and a nascent understanding of politics and economic trends, Geldof speaks with authority about our most pressing international issues.
