Matthew Harrington, our global President and Chief Operating Officer, approached me this spring about moving to a new role after 14 years as my right-hand man. He wanted to do more hands-on client work, instead of running operations. Matthew is a gifted client leader. During his 41-year career at the firm, he led the launch of the Xbox gaming platform for Microsoft, worked directly with Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, to re-inspire the employees on his return to the company, and established Samsung as a leader in global technology. He has also helped me navigate Edelman through three crises: the 9/11 terrorist act, the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. We agreed that he would move to the role of Executive Vice Chairman of the firm, a title held only once before by the legendary Michael Deaver, who worked in our Washington, D.C. office after his service in the White House with President Ronald Reagan, focusing on our large global client portfolio.
In looking for Matt’s successor, we evaluated 70 possible candidates, then interviewed seven finalists over a three-month period. During the final interview process, our internal search committee asked one of our board members, Mainardo de Nardis, if he’d consider interviewing for the role. The consensus view of the committee and of the family was that he was the right person for the job.
Mainardo will become our new President and Chief Operating Officer. He has served on the board of our parent company, Daniel J. Edelman Inc., for the past five years. He will focus on driving growth and strong financial performance, simplifying our organization and ensuring excellence in service delivery across the global network of 61 offices. He is a self-described “client guy” who has run global clients such as PepsiCo, Visa and Nissan. Mainardo has deep relationships with Chief Marketing Officers based on his prior experience as Executive Vice Chairman of Omnicom Media Group, CEO of OMD Worldwide, CEO of Aegis Media and CEO of WPP media agency, MEC. He also has extensive AdTech expertise, with leadership roles as Chairman, Board Director, and Investor at companies, including LoopMe and Vidmob. Mainardo sees Edelman as a singular force in shaping trust between companies, brands, and society.
Brian Buchwald will become our President for Global Transformation and Performance. Brian joined two and a half years ago as Chair of our Product and AI effort to build a unique set of AI products. His team of 40 executives has built over 500 custom models to directly support clients, created proprietary products such as Draftmaster, and is enabling our modernization of the service model. We aim to build the category’s first Earned Flywheel, recognizing the power of earned media placements and content in corporate channels in LLM search, then show that this new capability drives brand sales and corporate reputation. AI must help us take marketing spend from holding companies and independent specialist agencies and allow us to do more advisory work on the corporate side.
We are back on the offense. We work with the best clients in the world across our global network with an unmatched culture of excellence, creativity and delivery. We have a unique balance of corporate and brand capabilities with deep industry expertise in financial services, food, health and technology. We are building the Earned Flywheel and developing additional products that enhance the business impact and advisory of the Edelman Trust Barometer. We are determined to win in Trusted Creator, using our superior knowledge in public affairs and our top-class influencer team to guide selection of creator partners for brands. This is a once-in-a-generation moment for our industry, and Edelman intends to lead.
Richard Edelman is CEO.
