Michael W. Ferro Jr was recently selected as Top Healthcare Tech Entrepreneur of the Year for 2021 by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) for his outstanding leadership and commitment to the industry.
While inclusion with the International Association of Top Professionals is an honor in itself, only a few members in each discipline are chosen for this distinction. These special honorees are distinguished based on their professional accomplishments, academic achievements, leadership abilities, longevity in the field, other affiliations, and contributions to their communities. All honorees are invited to attend the IAOTP’s annual award gala at the end of this year for a night to honor their achievements. www.iaotp.com/award-gala
With over four decades as a self-made American businessman and entrepreneur, Mr. Ferro has founded or rebuilt many companies. He started his first business at the age of 15 while still in high school, which was acquired in 1992 by Pettibone when Ferro was just under 30 years old. He then went on to become the founder of Click Commerce in 1994, which he later took public in 2000. These early ventures landed him the title of one of the youngest people named in Forbes’ “Tech’s 100 Highest Rollers.” After Click Commerce was acquired for $292M in 2006 by Illinois Tool Works, in 2007 Ferro became the founder and CEO of Merrick Ventures, a Florida based private equity firm focused on technology. Through Merrick Ventures, Ferro acquired a stake in Merge Healthcare, a medical data and imaging company, and led the company up through the IBM acquisition of Merge in 2016 for $1 Billion. In 2012, Ferro founded Higi, a company with over 10,000 FDA-approved smart health stations in places like major retail pharmacies. His background in software architecture led him to develop many groundbreaking innovations, and he has been granted multiple patents for his inventions in technology, healthcare and artificial intelligence.
The President of IAOTP, Stephanie Cirami, stated “Choosing Michael for this award was an easy decision for our panel to make. With a remarkable career across many industries, we are looking forward to honoring and celebrating the accomplishments of Mr. Ferro at the Annual Awards Gala.”
Michael also founded a philanthropic venture, The Michael and Jacqueline Ferro Foundation, in order to support his favorite causes and communities. In 2014, Michael donated $2M to build a space for young entrepreneurs called “The Garage”, located at Northwestern University. Michael donated over $1M to the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation and donated another $1M to the Capital Gazette Families Fund to aid families of the 2018 newsroom shooting victims. Michael donated over $1M to the Melanoma Research Alliance to support scientists and research in melanoma. Michael has made many other major donations of over $1M or more, including to the Field Museum of Natural History; the University of Notre Dame; the Ferro Fountain to the Holocaust Museum and Education Center; the Museum of Science and Industry; and the Lyric Opera. He and his wife also co-hosted an event that raised $12M in one evening for the 2016 Olympic bid.
Throughout his illustrious career, Mr. Ferro has received many awards and accolades nationwide including The Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2003 by Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization; the 2006 Henry Crown Fellow by the Aspen Institute; the KPMG Illinois High Tech Award; and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Tech award. In 2016, Ferro was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Documentary: “Life Itself: The Roger Ebert Story”
For more information on Mr. Ferro please visit: www.michaelferro.com
About IAOTP
The International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) is an international boutique networking organization that handpicks the world’s finest, most prestigious top professionals from different industries. These top professionals are given an opportunity to collaborate, share their ideas, be keynote speakers, and to help influence others in their fields. This organization is not a membership that anyone can join. You have to be asked by the President or be nominated by a distinguished honorary member after a brief interview.
IAOTP’s experts have given thousands of top prestigious professionals around the world, the recognition and credibility that they deserve and have helped in building their branding empires. IAOTP prides itself to be a one of a kind boutique networking organization that hand picks only the best of the best and creates a networking platform that connects and brings these top professionals to one place.
For More information on IAOTP please visit: www.iaotp.com
