Bob Geldof

Sir Bob Geldof is an internationally acclaimed businessman, musician, humanitarian and political activist. He is highly entertaining and has great insight into the socio-political and upliftment arenas as well as leadership, communications, marketing in the global village, motivation and self-development.

Sir Bob Geldof is an unstoppable entrepreneur and a media genius. His corporate keynote presentations are powerful, memorable and unmissable. He not only speaks of life, corporate responsibility, the need for commitment, brand development, media dynamics and marketing awareness but he also pulls the audience into his passionate presentations empowering them and motivating them to make a difference in some way to their businesses, relationships, or those around them.

One of the highest ranked and most authorative corporate speakers, conference keynote producers and after dinner speakers available, Sir Bob Geldof is influential and inspiring. His unique presentations, views and insights are highly sought after by companies who wish to benefit from sensational presentations guaranteed to leave a lasting and powerful impression.

Clients have included HSBC, Credit Suisse, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, The American Association of Bankers, The Canadian MARS Stem Cell Research Centre, Accenture Medical, The Allied Bank of Ireland, The Royal Geographical Society, Svedbank, CLSA Hong Kong, CLSA Japan, The Hindustani Times, and many other leading international companies and institutes. The common denominator has been unprecedented praise of his delivery and content. Sir Bob is a highly dependable and fascinating speaker.

About Sir Bob Geldof:

Bob Geldof entered the music scene as a journalist on Canada’s premier underground rock journal Georgia Straight. Further experience with the New Musical Express and Melody Maker sharpened his prose and upon returning to Dublin, he formed the band The Boomtown Rats, one of the first acts to emerge during the punk/new wave explosion of 1976/77.After a series of hits, including two UK number 1 singles, Geldof emerged as one of the most well-known pop personalities of his era. After starring in the film of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, he turned his attention to the dreadful famine that was plaguing Ethiopia in 1984.

After receiving a knighthood in June 1986 and publishing his autobiography, Bob Geldof recorded the solo album, Deep In The Heart Of Nowhere, which spawned the minor hit This Is The World Calling. His second album, 1990’s The Vegetarians Of Love”, was recorded in only five days and proved a hit with critics and fans alike. Complete with folk and Cajun flavorings and an irreverent stab at apathy in the hit single The Great Song Of Indifference, the album undeniably proved that Bob Geldof should continue his recording career.

By 1992 Bob Geldof had established himself as a highly astute businessman with his co-ownership of the television production house Planet 24, which began life as Planet Pictures back in the mid-80s. The company broke into the big time by launching the pioneering early morning television series The Big Breakfast in 1992. Planet 24 was sold to Carlton TV.

In the late 90s, when Bob encountered problems booking a family holiday over the Internet, he founded online travel agent Deckchair.com in conjunction with James Page, the successful creator of the Eidos software company, responsible for Lara Croft. Deckchair was purchased by OTC (Online Travel Corporation) in June 2003.

Ten Alps Communications was founded by Bob Geldof and Alex Connock in 1999 and sprouted from what was left of Planet 24, their previous TV venture. Ten Alps has been hugely successful with productions including high profile documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, Five, Sky One and Discovery Events that Changed our World (with Michael Buerk), Jeremy Vine Meets, To Kill and Kill Again, and Manchester United’s Top 50 Goals / The Top 50 Goals Scored Against Manchester United.

Bob Geldof returned to the music scene in September 2001 with his first new recording in over eight years. A raw and brutally frank album dealing in unflinching detail with the recent emotional upheavals of Geldof’s personal life, Sex, Age & Death was in marked contrast to his previous studio set, the relatively upbeat The Happy Club. Bob completed a TV series for BBC1 – Geldof In Africa where he traveled through West Africa (Ghana, Benin and Mali); Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda); and East Africa (Ethiopia, Tanzania and Somalia), and explored the continent that the rest of the world seems to be leaving behind. A DVD of the entire series was released in late 2005. Bob has produced a fabulous book, under the same name as an accompaniment to the TV series and which was launched in ‘hard back’ in May 2005.

At the forefront of Geldof’s public activities in July 2005 were the Live 8 concerts which took place in London, Paris, Philadelphia, Rome and Berlin. A sixth concert was organized on Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium four days later. The Live8 DVD, featuring excerpts of most of the performances, was released in November 2005.

In June 2007 Bob played a rather fitting role in an Australian TV commercial for Telstra. That same month, he demonstrated his passion as a leading international keynote speaker when the YIBC conference delegates rated him with highest positive feedback ever recorded! “He’s the first YIBC speaker to receive full marks, but his speech had everything: passion, humour, humanity, realism, dreams and urgency. He showed a grasp of economics and politics and an ability to make his blunt diplomacy work. Bill Clinton has probably been the most popular YIBC performer in recent years but many delegates felt the man behind Live Aid and Live8 topped it. Having flown in from the G8 Summit, Geldof commanded attention and respect despite the tousled hair, unshaven face, scruffy clothes and gum-chewing, and received a standing ovation.” Kathryn Moore, David Parkin and Ian Briggs – The Yorkshire Post. In an unprecedented move, recognizing the incredible success, the organizers booked Bob again for the 2008 event.

Amongst a number of recent recognitions, Bob received an honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Laws) from the National University of Ireland, was awarded the MTV Free Your Mind Award (Lisbon), the EPM Marketer of the Year Award (Los Angeles), The North-South Council Award (Lisbon) and the Nobel Man of Peace Award which was presented to him by Mikael Gorbachev at a ceremony in Rome in 2005.

Bob was recognized by TIME Magazine as one of the 2005 European Heros and made the front cover of their European Edition on 10th October 2005. In 2007 he was honoured by Newcastle University who awarded him a Doctorate of Civil Law at a ceremony with Gordon Brown MP, HE William Mpaka, Susan George and Dr David Golding. Bob has now been nominated seven times in succession for the Nobel Peace Award. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) conferred Bob with an honorary Fellowship in May 2007 in recognition of his outstanding achievements and contribution to tackling the poverty of his fellow man.

Bob is the recipient of the 2007 M100 Sanssouci Media Award. The prize giving ceremony took place at the Schloss Theatre in the Neue Palais in Potsdam, Germany. In February 2008 Bob traveled with President George W. Bush to Africa on the President’s farewell tour of the troubled continent and wrote a major feature article for TIME Magazine. Cameron Diaz joined Bob and Dave Stewart to record a song that the musical duo wrote for Pangea Day (10th May 2008) when Bob spoke at the TED Conference in Monterey, USA in March 2008. In 2009 Sir Bob was awarded the Der Steiger Award for his long standing contribution to the music industry at a prestigious award ceremony in Bochum, Germany.

February 2011 saw the release of Bob’s new album purposely ironic in its title “How To Write Popular Songs That Will Sell (58 1/2)”.

Since 2010 Bob has been working on a private equity investment fund for Africa (“The 8 Mile Fund”) and which he refers to as ‘the third and final leg of the tripod of African support’. The first was in 2004 we needed Charity to immediately raise the funds needed to assist in overcoming the Ethiopian famine and save the lives of 30,000,000 people (Band Aid and Live Aid). The second was in 2005 when we needed Justice to get the world to write off the debts that they had imposed on the continent, increase aid, and restructure the one-sided trade agreements. The last is Investment – the need to bring funding to develop infrastructure, communications, manufacture and agriculture to bring Africa en par with other growing economies such as India and China and launch it into the 21st century. In 2012 the fund reached its first close at USD 200,000,000 and is now well on its way to a second close at USD 500,000,000.

Bob remains a passionate musician and between his business, political activism and humanitarian activities he still composes, plays and tours with his band. In 2013 he will be touring Australia, South Africa, South America and Europe and possibly see the launch of another new album.

Bob Geldof is an influential and inspiring speaker. He is highly entertaining and has great insight into the socio-political and upliftment arenas as well as leadership, communications, marketing in the global village, motivation and self-development. His unique presentations, views and insights are highly sought after by companies who wish to benefit from his sensational presentations and which always leave a lasting and powerful impression.

Sir Bob Geldof speaks about:

• Making A Difference
• Creating Good Leaders
• Building the Right Team
• A Greener Future
• Renewables and Sustainables
• Branding and Communications
• Communications Technologies
• Dublin to Darfur – A Passion for Progress
• CSR – A Core Value of Today’s Society
• A Changing World – Boomtown Rats to Live 8
• Various business subjects based on his current 8 companies and previous including: Planet 24 (Big Breakfast, Survivor, Taxi, etc), Deckchair.com, includes motivation, leadership, corporate challenges, vision.