MDC Partners has had its problems. Its shares dropped dramatically this past April after news that the SEC was launching an investigation into the CEO of MDC Partners Miles Nadal. Then shares plummeted after receiving a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC requested documents “relating to CEO expenses, the company’s goodwill and other accounting practices, as well as trading in the company’s securities by third parties.”
Following this, Nadal agreed to pay back the company $8.6 million for reimbursed medical expenses, travel and commuting costs, charitable and other unspecified expenses. Things have been rocky.
Corporate Re-branding Efforts and New People
And through it all, MDC Partners is putting that behind them. Just recently they named Khartoon Weiss as senior vice president of business development to help turn things toward a positive direction. Ms. Weiss will focus on the company’s media and digital capabilities as well as supporting the holding company’s network. She hails from Mediacom where she served as chief growth officer and managing director beginning in 2013.
Prior to Mediacom, she worked as vice president of integrated marketing communication at Clear Channel beginning in 2011. Past clients included Budweiser, MasterCard and American Express. And before joining Clear Channel, she was with BBDO New York for six years as vice president for new business development.
MDC Partners in General
MDC Partners is an international communications holding company with a rapidly expanding and influential global communications and marketing network. They specialize in technology, strategic consulting, data analysis, and insights helping create optimal results for the investments their 1,500 worldwide clients make in marketing and branding their products and services. They strive to give all the tools and training to their people and partners so they can move forward with innovations, talent, and entrepreneurial, competitive drive, to move clients forward toward maximum growth. As they like to say, “MDC Partners is The Place Where Great Talent Lives.”
MDC was founded in 1980 by MIles Nadal (no longer with the firm) and is currently led by Scott Kauffman, CEO and Chairman. Kauffman has many years of top-level leadership expertise and started with MDC as a member of their Board of Directors in 2006, serving as the senior member of the Board prior to shifting to his current responsibilities.
MDC’s global headquarters is in New York City, with another office in Toronto, Canada. The agencies they own include Kwittken, CP+B, KBS, and Allison + Partners. But all of the partners are in a communication industry of some sort, whether it is media, advertising, PR, or something else.
MDC Partners uses technology, strategic consulting solutions, marketing communications, insights, and data analytics to move communications and marketing efforts forward for their multinational clients in the U.S., Asia, Europe, Canada, and Latin America.
MDC generally invests in partner companies to receive majority stakes of 60-80% in many sectors, including B2B, advertising, digital and interactive, experiential marketing, branding, crisis management, product innovation, social media, direct marketing, media buying, PR, entertainment, multicultural advertising, investor relations, media planning, publishing, and strategic planning. MDC Partners is a publicly traded company and trades both on the NASDAQ exchange (MDCA) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (MDZ.A).