Richard Edelman

Birthday: June 15, 1954

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois

Primary residence: New York City

Current role: CEO of Edelman (1996-present) and Daniel J. Edelman Holdings (1996 - present) 

• Edelman was founded by Richard’s father in 1952

Net worth: At least $780 million (WealthX)

Annual compensation: Unable to find recent data

Education:

• MBA from Harvard Business School (1978) 

• BA from Harvard College (1976)

• High school: Philip Exeter Academy (1972) 

Board memberships, affiliations, and roles:

• Board member of the Ad Council 

• Board member of the Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose

• Board member of the Atlantic Council 

• Board member of Project HOOD

• Board member of P33

• Board member of The Gettysburg Foundation

• Trustee of the 9/11 Museum

• Member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago

• Member of the World Economic Forum 

• Member of the PR Seminar

• Director of the Children’s Aid Society

Past roles: 

• Director of GENYOUth

• Member of the Business & Sustainable Development Commission (BSDC) 

• Board Member of the CDC Foundation

• Director at the University of Chicago Medical Center (WealthX) 

• Director of The Jerusalem Foundation

• Director of  Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP)

Fun facts: 

• Richard Edelman runs a blog. 

• Richard’s siblings, John and Renee, are both executives at Edelman. Both of his daughters work for the firm as well.

For decades, ad agencies and PR firms have helped fossil fuel companies greenwash their public images and have lobbied policymakers directly. Oil industry PR efforts have focused on campaigns to spread climate denial and to deflect attention from fossil fuels by overemphasizing the possibilities of greenwashed technologies like carbon capture. Edelman is the largest PR firm in the world by revenues, raking in $1.04 billion in 2023. According to Clean Creatives, “Richard Edelman has turned Edelman PR into the leading agency for major polluters and fossil fuel companies.”

Fossil fuel clients 

• Edelman PR’s fossil fuel clients have included the American Fuel and Petrochemicals Manufacturers (AFPM), ExxonMobil, Shell, the American Petroleum Institute, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), and the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline. Beyond corporate clients, Edelman has worked with petrostates like Saudia Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The PR firm worked with Sultan al Jaber, the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and president of COP28 before the climate conference, though this contract only lasted four months. 

• In May 2024, Edelman won the bidding war to manage Shell’s global PR account. The account is estimated to be in the eight-figure range. Edelman PR has greenwashed Shell’s public image in the past. According to Clean Creatives, “Edelman has been a key partner in misleading the public about Shell’s plans, producing campaigns that overstate Shell’s commitment to renewable energy by highlighting projects that make up a minuscule part of Shell’s planned capital expenditures. Edelman’s stated purpose with these campaigns is to target young people who support action on climate change.” 

• In 2022, Edelman PR received $105,750 in contract fees from the Charles Koch Foundation, which is notorious for its climate crimes. A 2022 990 tax disclosure form shows that Edelman was one of the Charles Koch Foundation’s highest-paid vendors. A relationship with the Koch network … puts them totally out of step with their stated climate commitments,” said Duncan Meisel, executive director of Clean Creatives. 

• Edelman managed ExxonMobil’s “Exxchange” platform which targets the Biden administration through Facebook ads that encourage viewers to oppose Biden’s climate legislation and to support drilling on federal lands. An open letter by Clean Creatives put the partnership this way: “Edelman’s fancy ads are giving ExxonMobil social license to operate, and to thereby destroy our climate.” 
  

The Not-So-Trustworthy “Trust Barometer”

• The Edelman Trust Barometer is a research arm of the PR firm that surveys the public on why they hold the views they do. Edelman, however, is not to be trusted. The firm makes bold climate commitments, stating: “We believe climate change is the biggest crisis we face as a society. Addressing this challenge requires creative solutions, unprecedented collaboration and innovation to drive positive change. Trust is the key to progress and is premised on action.” This statement rings hollow after reading about Edelman’s recent renewal of its partnership with Shell Oil. 

• The 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Trust and Climate Change found that the climate crisis was “universally recognized,” climate change has become “more personal,” and that business is “distrusted.” Ironically, Edelman PR has played an active role in helping businesses deceive the public. 

• Ultimately, the trust barometer is a marketing ploy. As Duncan Meisel, Executive Director of Clean Creatives, put it to The Lever, “It’s quite clear that Edelman is, with their work, directly undermining the kinds of trust-building measures that we need to build consensus around this issue. Edelman uses the trust barometer as a way to greenwash — or trustwash — their own reputation around this issue. And it’s a way to have them position themselves as supporters of the principles of climate action, while also doing quite the opposite with their actual work.”

• Richard Edelman is a confirmed ultra-high net worth individual on WealthX, with an estimated net worth of at least $780 million and $100 million in liquid assets. 

• He has properties in Massapequa, New York, Oswego, Illinois, and Leavenworth, Indiana (WealthX). 

• In 2022, Richard was inducted into the American Advertising Hall of Fame 

• In 2019, he was named the PR Agency Professional of the Past 20 Years by PRWeek and was inducted into the publication’s Hall of Fame

• In 2014, he was inducted into the Arthur W. Page Society’s Hall of Fame

• Advertising Age named him Agency Executive of the Year in 2008

• As an active philanthropist, Edelman has donated to the American Museum of Natural History, the CDC Foundation, the Central Park Conservancy, the Children's Aid Society, the Food Bank for New York, and the University of Chicago. 

At the helm of a public relations company, Richard Edelman is indirectly linked to the fossil fuel commodity chain by working to protect the social licenses of its fossil fuel clients through greenwashed advertisements so they can continue to operate. 

According to Edelman PR’s 2023 Global Citizenship Report, Edelman moved from tracking and reporting GHG emissions from its largest emitting offices to tracking emissions from all of their offices. They also went from tracking four GHG emissions to “tracking [their] most material source emissions, including purchased goods and services.” The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) approved Edelman’s near-term emissions reduction target, and its long-term target is in the process of being validated.

• Clean Creatives is the primary watchdog group of the advertising industry, publishing exposés and fact-checking Edelman’s reports on its “F-List.”

• In 2022, 450 scientists signed a letter calling on PR firms including Edelman to stop working for Big Oil. Edelman continued working for Big Oil. 

• In 2021, Richard Edelman was one of The Guardian’s “dirty dozen” top American climate villains. Nicknamed “The Fabulist,” Edelman is called out for his multi-pronged PR, advertising, and lobbying campaigns with fossil fuel companies. 

•  “It’s too hard to find trustworthy information”- Edelman referring to climate change in 2022

• “We work with oil majors. I’m proud of our work.” –Edelman, 2021

• “I’m proud of what our firm is doing to build a house of trust through our mission, values, and actions.” –Edelman, 2019