# Mark Penn

> Mark J. Penn is the founder, chairman and CEO of Stagwell, a global marketing and communications group. His career connects political polling, corporate strategy and agency ownership, including work for Bill and Hillary Clinton, leadership at Burson-Marsteller and Microsoft, and the books Microtrends and Microtrends Squared.

- **Role:** Chairman and CEO at Stagwell
- **Organizations:** Stagwell, The Stagwell Group, The Harris Poll, MDC Partners, Microsoft, Burson-Marsteller, Penn Schoen Berland
- **From:** New York, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor’s degree; studied political science, Harvard University, Columbia Law School
- **Known for:** Helped develop overnight polling methods used in Ed Koch’s 1977 campaign., Served six years as Bill Clinton’s White House pollster., Founded Stagwell and led its 2021 combination with MDC Partners.

## Career timeline

- **1967** — Conducted a faculty poll at Horace Mann at age 13.
- **1975** — Cofounded Penn and Schoen with Doug Schoen.
- **1977** — Used microcomputer-based overnight polling in Ed Koch’s mayoral campaign.
- **1995** — Began consulting for Bill Clinton, later serving as White House pollster and 1996 campaign strategist.
- **2000** — Advised Hillary Clinton’s successful New York Senate campaign.
- **2001** — Penn Schoen Berland was sold to WPP.
- **2005** — Advised Tony Blair’s successful third-term campaign.
- **2006** — Became worldwide CEO of Burson-Marsteller.
- **2007** — Published Microtrends with E. Kinney Zalesne.
- **2008** — Left Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist role amid controversy over Colombia trade work.
- **2012** — Joined Microsoft as a corporate vice president.
- **2014** — Named Microsoft executive vice president and chief strategy officer.
- **2015** — Founded the Stagwell Group after leaving Microsoft.
- **2018** — Published Microtrends Squared with Meredith Fineman.
- **2019** — Became chairman and CEO of MDC Partners.
- **2021** — Led the combination creating Stagwell Inc.

## Achievements

- Helped develop overnight polling methods used in Ed Koch’s 1977 campaign.
- Served six years as Bill Clinton’s White House pollster.
- Founded Stagwell and led its 2021 combination with MDC Partners.
- Authored the bestselling Microtrends and its sequel.
- Donated polling materials for archival research at George Washington University.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Stagwell reported Q2 revenue of $786 million, 5% organic net revenue growth and an $8 million net loss attributable to common shareholders.
- **2025-11** — Stagwell and Palantir announced a standalone AI marketing platform partnership.
- **2025-10** — Stagwell hosted inaugural NewsFronts and announced a 35% ownership position in Real Clear Holdings.

## Links

- Website: https://markpenn.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markjpenn/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/Mark_Penn
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mark_penn_polls/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkPennPolls

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/mark-penn
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-06