Sir Bob Geldof

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.