{{Short description|American businessman (born 1954)}} {{use dmy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Richard Edelman | image = Richard W. Edelman - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = Edelman in 2011 | birth_name = Richard Winston Edelman | birth_date = {{Birth month and age|1954|6}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | education = Phillips Exeter Academy<br/> Harvard University (AB)<br/> Harvard Business School (MBA) | title = President and CEO, Edelman | term = 1996– | net_worth = | boards = | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Rosalind Anne Walrath|1986|2015|end=divorce}} * {{marriage|Claudia Romo González|2017}} }} | children = 3 | parents = Daniel Edelman<br/> Ruth Ann Rozumoff | website = {{URL|http://www.edelman.com/people/richard-edelman/|Richard Edelman}} }}
'''Richard Winston Edelman''' (born June 1954) is an American businessman, and the president and chief executive officer of public relations company Edelman, a company founded by his father, since 1996.
==Personal life== Edelman was born in June 1954,<ref>{{cite web | title=DANIEL J. EDELMAN LIMITED|series=Find and update company information | website=GOV.UK | date=7 January 2022 | url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00924113/officers | access-date=2 November 2023}}</ref> to a Jewish family, the son of Ruth Ann (née Rozumoff) and Daniel Edelman, the founder of the public relations company, Edelman.<ref name=nyt1985>{{cite news|last=Dougherty |first=Philip H. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/14/business/advertising-a-promotion-at-edelman.html |title=A Promotion At Edelman |work=New York Times |date=1985-06-14 |accessdate=2012-02-16}}</ref><ref name=nyt1986>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/18/style/miss-walrath-weds-richard-edelman.html |title=Miss Walrath Weds Richard Edelman |work=New York Times |date=1986-05-18 |accessdate=2012-02-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.adweek.com/news/press/daniel-j-edelman-dies-92-146555|title = Daniel J. Edelman Dies at 92| date=15 January 2013 }}</ref> He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy.<ref name=nyt1985/><ref name=nyt1986/>
On May 18, 1986, he married Rosalind Anne Walrath in a Jewish ceremony at the Harvard Club of New York City.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/18/style/miss-walrath-weds-richard-edelman.html|title=Miss Walrath Weds Richard Edelman|date=1986-05-18|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-04-07|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> His wife is the daughter of the then-creative director of advertising agency JWT, and was a vice president at the investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods when they wed.<ref name="nyt1986" /> He has three daughters,<ref name="prweek99" /> Margot, Tory, and Amanda.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Alexandra |last=Bruell |title= Six Things You May Not Know About Dan Edelman and His Agency - Lessons From 'Edelman and the Rise of Public Relations |publisher=AdAge|date=December 11, 2012 |url=https://adage.com/article/people-players/things-dan-edelman-agency/238718/ |quote=The new wave of leaders at Edelman will likely include three young women who share the company name: Richard and Roz's three daughters, Margot, Tory, and Amanda}}</ref> In 2008, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and had successful surgery.<ref>{{cite web|last=Krieger |first=Candice |url=http://www.thejc.com/business/business-features/why-pr-guru-sees-upbeat-story |title=Why the PR guru sees an upbeat story |publisher=The Jewish Chronicle |date=October 10, 2008 |accessdate=March 12, 2012}}</ref> In 2015, it was announced that Edelman and Walrath were getting divorced. In 2017, Edelman married Mexican public servant Claudia Romo González,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Claudia González Romo, Richard Edelman |work=The New York Times|date=September 17, 2017 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/fashion/weddings/claudia-romo-richard-edelman.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fweddings |access-date=September 5, 2024}}</ref> and the couple lives in Manhattan.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 17, 2017 |title=Claudia González Romo, Richard Edelman |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/fashion/weddings/claudia-romo-richard-edelman.html |access-date=September 5, 2024}}</ref> Claudia had two children, Joshua and Tamara, in her previous marriage.
His two siblings, John and Renee, are also executives at Edelman, making Edelman the largest private, family-run public relations firm in the world.<ref>{{cite news|title=Edelman; public relations, Chicago|publisher=Crain's Chicago Business|author=H. Lee Murphy|date=2005-10-17}}</ref> His daughters, Margot and Tory, both work for the firm.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Edelman: Agency Business Report 2014 - Edelman crossed the threshold of employing more than 5,000 people in 2013 and continued on its global growth path. |publisher=PRWeek|date=May 1, 2014 |url=https://www.prweek.com/article/1291313/edelman-agency-business-report-2014 |quote=Richard’s eldest daughter Margot, a VP in research at Edelman Berland, rejoined the firm in 2013 after a stint at business school. She works across clients such as Hearst and New York City FC’s Major League Soccer team. Tory Edelman started in fall 2013 as an account executive in New York working on Starbucks and Dove.}}</ref>
==Career== Richard Edelman joined the Edelman firm in 1978 after receiving his MBA from Harvard, where he had also studied as an undergraduate.<ref name=nyt1985/> He had intended to take a job in marketing at Playtex, but his father persuaded him to join the family business.<ref name=prweek99>{{cite web|last=Barker |first=Sophie |url=http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/91803/ |title=PROFILE: Richard Edelman, Edelman PR Worldwide - Taking hold of the family firm. Richard Edelman has overseen a recent string of walkouts and a steady growth |publisher=PRWeek |date=6 August 1999 |accessdate=March 12, 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318095859/http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/91803|archivedate=2012-03-18}}</ref> He was an executive at Edelman by 1981 and in 1983, was appointed president of Edelman's New York office.<ref>{{cite news|last=Dougherty |first=Philip H. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/20/business/advertising-people.html |title=Advertising - People |work=New York Times |date=1983-12-20 |accessdate=2012-02-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/28/world/around-the-world-nestle-said-to-have-paid-for-rights-nominee-s-list.html |title=Around the World; Nestle Said to Have Paid For Rights Nominee's List |work=New York Times |date=1981-05-28 |accessdate=2012-02-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113100733/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/28/world/around-the-world-nestle-said-to-have-paid-for-rights-nominee-s-list.html |archivedate=November 13, 2013 }}</ref> He was appointed president of the company in 1985, and his father remained as chief executive officer . At that time, the company's income was only $14.2 million.<ref name=nyt1985/> He pledged to keep the company independent at a time when many other PR companies were being bought by advertising agencies.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dan Edelman: Playing at the Top of His Game|author=David Snyder|date=1987-09-14|publisher=Crains Chicago Business|page=25}}</ref> He later became the regional manager of Europe before being promoted to chief executive officer in September 1996, a post he still holds.<ref>{{cite web |title=Richard Edelman Biography |url=http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/bio/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207033202/http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/bio/ |archive-date=2012-02-07 |accessdate=2012-02-16 |website=Edelman}}</ref>
Edelman is a regular attendee at the World Economic Forum{{'}}s annual meeting in Davos, having been nine times by 2007.<ref name=prweek07>{{cite news|title=Profile: Blogosphere's Darling - Richard Edelman, president and global CEO, Edelman|author=Hannah Marriott|publisher=PR Week|date=2007-01-26}}</ref> In a January 2012 presentation, his main message was that, based on a survey by his company, the public do not trust governments and business executives anymore - they are the least trusted of any group.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lewis |first=Al |url=http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_19812446 |title=Lewis: A PR guy we can trust |publisher=Dow Jones Newswires |date=January 25, 2012 |accessdate=March 12, 2012}}</ref>
==Social media== Edelman was one of the first PR practitioners to identify the importance of social media and create a specialist practice.<ref name="HoltzHavens2009">{{cite book|author1=Shel Holtz|author2=John C. Havens|title=Tactical transparency: how leaders can leverage social media to maximize value and build their brand|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H1t6DHxehL8C&pg=PA34|accessdate=16 February 2012|year=2009|publisher=International Association of Business Communicators/John Wiley and Sons|isbn=978-0-470-29370-6|pages=34–}}</ref> He coined the phrase ''circle of cross influence'' to describe how people are increasingly influenced by other people, the internet, new media and cable TV, rather than mainstream media.<ref name="OdugbemiJacobson2008">{{cite book|author1=Sina Odugbemi|author2=Thomas L. Jacobson|title=Governance reform under real-world conditions: citizens, stakeholders, and voice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tEWhAHDVIsgC&pg=PA244|accessdate=16 February 2012|year=2008|publisher=World Bank Publications|isbn=978-0-8213-7456-6|page=244}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/world/europe/28iht-letter28.html|title=Keeping It Simple in a 25/8 World|work=New York Times|date=2012-01-28}}</ref> He has written a blog since 2004, and is one of the first chief executive officers to do so.<ref name="Walsh2007">{{cite book|author=Bob Walsh|title=Clear blogging: how people blogging are changing the world and how you can join them|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tHXhp2dyJHcC&pg=PA132|accessdate=16 February 2012|date=5 February 2007|publisher=Apress|isbn=978-1-59059-691-3|pages=132–}}</ref><ref name="Flynn2006">{{cite book|author=Nancy Flynn|title=Blog rules: a business guide to managing policy, public relations, and legal issues|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UcBVv8pKIeMC&pg=PA183|accessdate=16 February 2012|year=2006|publisher=AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn|isbn=978-0-8144-7355-9|pages=183–}}</ref> In 2007 ''PRWeek'' described his blog as one of the better-known PR blogs, in part due to some of his posts being controversial.<ref name=prweek07/>
He has advised the Canadian tar sands industry how to counter negative PR from NGOs using social media.<ref name="Sweeny2010">{{cite book|first=Alastair |last=Sweeny|title=Black Bonanza: Canada's Oil Sands and the Race to Secure North America's Energy Future|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iGqZuIPJdz4C&pg=PA221|accessdate=16 February 2012|date=20 April 2010|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|isbn=978-0-470-16138-8|pages=221–}}</ref>
==Appointments== Edelman is a member of the board of directors of the Ad Council and the Atlantic Council.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/about/board-of-directors/|title=Board of Directors|website=Atlantic Council|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-11}}</ref> Edelman sits on the board of the Children's Aid Society, the International Business Leaders Forum, the Gettysburg National Battlefield Foundation and the National Committee on United States-China Relations. He is a member of the World Economic Forum, the Arthur Page Society, the PR Seminar and a director of the Jerusalem Foundation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edelman.com/insights/ShowOne.asp?ID=174 |title=Richard Edelman profiled in The Holmes Report |publisher=Edelman.com |date=March 31, 2009 |accessdate=March 12, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215122737/http://edelman.com/insights/ShowOne.asp?ID=174 |archivedate=December 15, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jerusalemfoundation.org/board_content.aspx?MID=546&CID=555&SID=709&ID=841 |title=The Jerusalem Foundation, Inc. (USA) |publisher=Jerusalemfoundation.org |accessdate=March 12, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120085743/http://www.jerusalemfoundation.org/board_content.aspx?MID=546&CID=555&SID=709&ID=841 |archivedate=January 20, 2012 }}</ref> In 2009 Edelman was appointed executive jury chair of a new award recognizing the creative use of unpaid publicity, given at the Clio Awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/clio-awards-adds-pr-category-98052 |title=Clio Awards Adds PR Category |publisher=Adweek |date=January 15, 2009 |accessdate=March 12, 2012}}</ref>
==Awards== In September 2014 he was inducted into the Arthur W. Page Society Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://page.org/news/richard-edelman-2014-hall-of-fame|title=Richard Edelman Inducted into Arthur W. Page Society Hall of Fame |website=page.org|access-date=2019-07-27}}</ref>
In March 2019 he was named "Agency Pro of the Last 20 Year." by PRWeek.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.prweek.com/article/1588308|title=12. Richard Edelman|date=July 1, 2019|website=www.prweek.com|access-date=2019-07-27}}</ref>
==Views== Shortly after the mortgage lending crisis, Edelman said that financial institutions have a PR problem. He claimed that financial institutions rank lowest on the company's trust barometer, because they don't explain the how and why of their actions to the public.<ref>Alain Sherter, Bnet. [https://web.archive.org/web/20091016115222/http://industry.bnet.com/financial-services/10004153/pr-man-richard-edelman-says-banks-have-a-perception-problem-wrong/ "PR Man Richard Edelman Says Banks Have a Perception Problem. Wrong"] October 13, 2009.</ref> Richard Edelman spends about an hour per day voicing his views on the company blog that he started to set an example for his clients.<ref>Debbie Weil, Social Media Insights Blog. [http://www.debbieweil.com/blog/q-a-with-ceo-blogger-richard-edelman/ Q & A with CEO blogger Richard Edelman]. October 2, 2007</ref>
Edelman helped raise donations for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.<ref name="fund">{{cite web|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Edelman-Company-History.html |title=Company Histories & Profiles: Edelman |publisher=Funding Universe |accessdate=January 6, 2012}}</ref>
In 2022, Edelman was sanctioned by the Russian Government in retaliation for US sanctions in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Russia puts Richard Edelman and other global PR CEOs on latest sanctions list {{!}} PR |url=https://www.campaignasia.com/article/russia-puts-richard-edelman-and-other-global-pr-ceos-on-latest-sanctions-list/482167 |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=Campaign Asia}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * [http://www.edelman.com/speak_up/blog/ Richard Edelman's blog]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edelman, Richard}} Category:Atlantic Council Category:Living people Category:1954 births Category:Harvard Business School alumni Category:American public relations people Category:Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Category:American chief executives