Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
Mike Blumenthal
From refugee in Shanghai to the U.S. Cabinet: a century of extraordinary experience in public service, business leadership, and a life lived across continents.
His story
A remarkable life across two centuries.
W. Michael Blumenthal was born near Berlin in 1926. His family fled the Nazis shortly before World War II, and he survived the Holocaust as a refugee in Shanghai. He arrived in the United States as an immigrant in 1947 and became a citizen in 1952.
His career has crossed academia, public service, finance, business, and the arts: U.S. Ambassador, chief executive of two major corporations, 64th Secretary of the Treasury, and founding director of the Jewish Museum Berlin. He turned 100 in 2026 and is the oldest living former U.S. cabinet officer.
Read the full biographyCareer highlightsDiplomat. Executive. Cabinet secretary. Museum director.
Full timeline-
1963–67
U.S. Ambassador and Chief U.S. Trade Negotiator, Geneva
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1967–77
Bendix Corporation; Chairman and CEO, 1972–77
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1977–79
64th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States
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1980–89
Chairman and CEO, Burroughs Corporation (Unisys)
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1990–97
Limited Partner, Lazard Frères
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1997–2014
Founding Director and Chief Executive, Jewish Museum Berlin
- Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Honorary citizen of Berlin
- Lucius Clay Medal
- Horatio Alger Award (1980)
- Goethe Medal
- Mendelssohn Bartholdy Medal
- Princeton University Madison Medal for distinguished public service
- Honorary degrees from major U.S. universities
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