Mark Penn

With a career spanning four decades, Mark Penn is a leader and sought-after expert in public relations, advertising, market research, and polling. He serves as managing partner and president of private equity fund The Stagwell Group, where he oversees a diverse portfolio of marketing services. Under the leadership of Mark Penn, The Stagwell Group has raised more than $500 million and completed over 20 acquisitions as it works to modernize the concept of the holdings company.

Concurrent to his role at The Stagwell Group, Mark Penn maintains a leadership role at its largest portfolio company, MDC Partners. As chairman and CEO, he manages the firm’s growing network of marketing and communications partners, working with a global client base of more than 1,700 entities.

Mark Penn previously served Microsoft as its chief strategy officer and executive vice president. In this capacity, he addressed the firm’s strategic challenges by utilizing a combination of data analytics and creative problem-solving to overcome these hurdles. During his tenure with Microsoft, Mark Penn also oversaw all of the company’s advertising initiatives, including the famous Scroogled campaign.

Earlier in his career, Mark Penn co-founded market research company Penn Schoen Berland. As CEO, he successfully built the firm from the ground up by developing revolutionary polling and advertising techniques. Mark Penn eventually sold the firm to WPP, where he assumed the role of CEO at Burson Marsteller. While at the helm of these two companies, he grew their profits to record levels.

Over the course of his career, Mark Penn has emerged as a thought leader in his field. He has penned columns for such publications as POLITICO, The Wall Street Journal, and The Huffington Post. He also wrote the 2007 bestseller “Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes.” In 2018, his follow-up, “Microtrends Squared: The New Small Forces Driving Today’s Bit Disruptions,” was released.

Also renowned for his skill as a strategist, Mark Penn has served as an advisor on numerous political campaigns over the years and was a longtime White House Pollster for President Bill Clinton. Beyond that, he has advised several prominent corporate leaders and helped more than two dozen international heads of state win their elections.