We have spent the past few years building a strong and diverse board of directors for the holding company Daniel J. Edelman Holdings, Inc. This has been a journey for me, given that the board started as my father, my mother and me, one meeting a year, with an outside accountant and our CFO. Now that we have nearly 6,000 people and operate in 60 cities across the globe, with generation three moving into the company, we have strengthened our board with an eye toward even stronger governance and the goal of being a third-generation company capable of prospering in a changed environment.
We have three groups represented on the board. The first is the outside directors. They include Steven Felsher, former CFO of Grey Advertising, George Hornig, former COO of Deutsche Bank U.S., Helle Thorning Schmidt, former prime minister of Denmark, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, former defense minister of Germany, Deborah Elam, former CDO of GE, and Mainardo de Nardis, former global CEO of OMD Worldwide, Aegis Media and MEC. Three directors are non-U.S., two are experts in finance, two have agency backgrounds and two are former senior government officials.
The second group is management. Matthew Harrington, our global President and COO, Vic Malanga, our global CFO and I are on the board, responsible for operations and strategy.
The third group are members of the Edelman family. My brother John, sister Renee, plus my daughters Margot, Tory and Amanda are on the board. John takes interest in our community affairs, Renee in diversity and inclusion.
Shan Bhati, our global chief administrative officer and general counsel, is responsible for the board’s administration.
The board meets quarterly and focuses on topics familiar to most contemporary boards, including our competitive environment, our compensation structure, leadership performance, retaining and recruiting top talent, enhancing our diversity, equity and inclusion, our financial performance, and potential M&A or investment priorities.
I’m convinced that a top-class board helps to ensure the proper administration of this nearly billion-dollar company that aims to change our industry.
Richard Edelman is CEO.
