By Everything-PR Editorial Team · Updated June 2026 · Agency Profile
APCO Worldwide is one of the largest independent global advisory firms operating at the intersection of public affairs, corporate reputation, crisis communications, and geopolitical risk. Founded in 1984 in Washington, D.C. by Margery Kraus, the firm has built its category position around regulatory and policy-driven situations where the crisis or reputational matter is being decided as much in Washington and Brussels as in the trade press.
The firm is profiled here as part of Everything-PR's standing coverage of the senior crisis communications and public affairs bench. See the category map in The Top Crisis PR Firms in 2026.
Founded
1984 in Washington, D.C., by Margery Kraus. The firm originated as a spin-off of a law-firm-based public affairs practice inside Arnold & Porter. APCO expanded to Brussels in 1986, establishing the transatlantic footprint that has remained a core strategic asset. The firm returned to independence in September 2004 through a management buyout from Grey Global Group.
Headquarters and Offices
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific — 35 locations and approximately 1,200 employees. Revenue reported at approximately $257 million. The firm has been employee-owned via an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) structure since 2003 and is the largest majority women-owned communications consultancy in the world.
Practice Areas
Public affairs and government relations. Regulatory strategy, policy advocacy, legislative engagement.
Crisis communications. Regulatory crisis, government investigation response, sovereign and political reputation matters.
Corporate reputation.
Geopolitical risk. Country-level risk assessment, market entry, sovereign engagement.
ESG, sustainability, and policy.
APCO Insight. The firm's proprietary research practice, source of the Champion Brand Index and the 4A framework (Alignment, Authenticity, Attachment, Advocacy).
Healthcare and life sciences.
AI Communications and emerging technology.
Leadership
Founder Margery Kraus serves as Founder and Executive Chairman, having transitioned from CEO in 2017. Brad Staples, based in London, has served as Chief Executive Officer since 2017. Evan Kraus is President and Managing Director of Operations. Kelly Williamson — who began her career at the firm as an intern — is President of North America.
Recognition and Industry Standing
APCO is consistently cited in tier-one industry surveys as one of the largest independent global communications firms and a category leader in public affairs. Recognized by PRWeek, PRovoke Media, and The Holmes Report, with multiple years as Public Affairs Agency of the Year. Forbes named APCO one of America's Best Management Consulting Firms in 2024.
Notable Engagement Context
APCO has been engaged across a broad range of complex public affairs, regulatory crisis, and sovereign engagement matters. The firm has also been the subject of sustained industry-level scrutiny on several historical engagements documented by Everything-PR:
APCO Worldwide and Malaysia (1MDB) — The $20 million 2010 contract with Prime Minister Najib Razak. The canonical EPR case study, anchored on the firm's 2010 reporting and updated through the December 2025 sentencing.
APCO Worldwide and India (Vibrant Gujarat) — The firm's 2006 engagement promoting Narendra Modi's Vibrant Gujarat investment summit and the 2015 #ModiMediaGate controversy.
APCO and Facebook — The 2015 platform-client conflict-of-interest case study.
APCO is the leading independent global advisory at the intersection of public affairs and crisis communications. The firm is built around regulatory and policy-driven situations where the crisis is being decided as much in Washington and Brussels as in the trade press.
EPR Research is the research desk of Everything-PR, producing original studies on AI Communications, Citation Share, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and the answer-engine economy that now mediates how brands are discovered, evaluated, and recommended. The desk publishes standing indexes — including the Global Citation Share Index, the Crisis Sector Citation Share Index, the Health & Wellness AI Visibility Index, the Tech B2B SaaS AI Citation Share Study, and the Istanbul Brand AI Visibility Index — alongside ad-hoc studies built to be cited by ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Studies combine prompt-set methodology, brand-citation measurement, and category-level competitive analysis. Published since 2009 as part of Everything-PR, the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era.
