Now he’s Sir Mike.
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was knighted Wednesday by Queen Elizabeth II for his philanthropic work and his entrepreneurial accomplishments.
But he skipped the bow and the sword.
Billionaire Bloomberg, who owns a $19.2 million home in London’s upmarket Knightsbridge neighborhood, will not be traveling to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen, but said he was humbled by the honor.
“I am deeply honored to receive this recognition, which is especially meaningful to me because of my close personal, business, and philanthropic ties to London and Britain, which stretch back four decades,” Bloomberg said in a statement.
“Over those years it has been a great privilege to work with British leaders on a wide variety of issues, and to invest — commercially, culturally, and civically — in the future of Britain, a place I have long considered my second home.”
Shortly before Bloomberg left City Hall, he joined London Mayor Boris Johnson to announce a renewed tourism partnership between New York and London to boost travel between the two cities.
A self-confessed anglophile, Bloomberg has been “a great supporter of the arts and education in the UK,” and committed more than $68 million in philanthropic support to Great Britain.
Bloomberg, 72, also tried to borrow London’s congestion pricing traffic plan. But the proposal to ease traffic by charging drivers extra for traveling into the heart of Manhattan never got off the ground.
Bloomberg’s predecessor, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, was knighted in 2002 for his leadership during the Sept. 11 attacks.
Other American citizens who have been made honorary knights include Steven Spielberg, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.
His new title will be Michael Bloomberg, Honorary Knight of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE).
Technically, since Bloomberg is not a British citizen, he does not carry the title “Sir,” but can, if he wishes, add KBE to the end of his name.
Despite his estimated net worth of $34 billion, Bloomberg is not even the richest member of the honorary knighthood. That honor goes to Bill Gates, who was made a KBE in 2005 for his charitable and business work.
