Agency enters its fifth decade with 300 people globally and is now one of the largest independent agencies in the World and an undisputed leader in corporate reputation and advisory communications services
NEW YORK, Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — MikeWorldWide (MWW) is marking its 40th anniversary having grown from a one-person agency in New Jersey into one of the world’s largest independent public relations firms, approaching $75 million in annual billings and approximately 300 people across the U.S., EMEA and Latin America.
Over the past six years, MWW has grown almost 100% in revenue, from $38 million in 2020 to an expected $75 million in 2026. The agency has completed two strategic acquisitions, expanded internationally to Latin America and EMEA, launched new specialist practices and invested in the industries most advanced AI platform, technology and intelligence capabilities as it accelerates its growth and scale.
That growth comes at an inflection point for the communications industry. Holding companies are consolidating and restructuring while AI changes the economics of traditional agency work. At the same time, organizations are navigating increasingly complex reputation challenges across employees, consumers, policymakers, investors and other interconnected stakeholders.
MWW has seized the opening as an independent with a scale that combines the resources and capabilities required for major global assignments with senior counsel, speed and proximity to clients.
“Forty years means we have built something that lasts. It also means we have lived through enough change to know that what got us here will not automatically take us where we want to go,” said Michael Kempner, founder and CEO of MikeWorldWide. “We have reached a new level of scale at a moment when our industry is being reshaped. We have the capabilities to compete for the biggest assignments while retaining the independence and challenger mentality that got us here. That is a powerful position from which to build our next chapter.”
Forty Years of Making the Next Bet
Kempner founded MWW in 1986 with one desk, one typewriter, and a belief that reputation is one of the most valuable assets an organization has. Over the next four decades, the agency repeatedly made bets that expanded what it could offer clients and the assignments it would win, including selling to and later buying the agency back from Interpublic Group and reclaiming its independence, expanding internationally, uncovering emerging audience groups, building the industry’s largest sports communications practice, and building proprietary AI platform, PRISMA, that now makes up the backbone of the agency.
That strategy has accelerated in recent years. MWW acquired Berk Communications in 2024, significantly expanding its expertise in sports, entertainment, food and beverage and crisis. Berk delivered 16% revenue growth in its first year as part of MWW, and the combined entity has been recognized the last two years in Sports Business Journal’s Best Places to Work in Sports competition.
In 2026, MWW acquired HudsonLake, adding approximately 35 professionals and deep expertise in employee communications, organizational change, workforce engagement, and labor communications. The acquisition extended MWW’s reputation capabilities inside organizations as well as outside them.
At the same time, MWW has invested organically, expanding its corporate reputation and advisory, healthcare and brand practices, formalizing dedicated practices in energy and supply chain, logistics and transportation, expanding its international presence and adding new intelligence and technology capabilities. Recent wins and expansions include FOX Sports, the NY/NJ FIFA World Cup 2026 Host Committee, the Big 12 Conference, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Altria, Stanford Healthcare and GXO Logistics.
Together, these investments complete MWW’s Reputation Ecosystem—bringing together corporate communications, consumer engagement, public affairs, employee communications and crisis management, reflecting the increasingly connected nature of the audiences that shape an organization’s reputation.
Putting Independence to Work
MWW’s growth has occurred as much of the public relations industry moves toward greater consolidation. For MWW, independence is less about ownership than what the structure allows the agency to do.
Operating as an independent, single-P&L firm allows MWW to move talent across disciplines, make investment decisions quickly, and keep senior practitioners directly involved with clients.
“Independence is our operating system,” Kempner said. “It allows us to make speed our strategy—to put capital behind opportunities we believe in and bring the right people into the room without organizational barriers that slow down holding companies. AI will make many of our routine tasks work faster and provide more value, but clients still want and need real human experience and judgement, strategy and creativity that sits side by side with our advanced AI based analytics, intelligence and program creation. Even with the advancement in AI, the basic tenant of the business remains the same; clients still want the person in the room who they trust the most when the stakes are the highest, and the moments are most consequential. Our opportunity is to combine those human strengths with better intelligence and faster execution.”
The result is an agency that increasingly combines the advantages of two models: the scale and specialist capabilities to take on the industry’s largest assignments, with the speed, senior access and entrepreneurial culture of a challenger.
Recently, senior talent from industry giants have joined MWW, including:
- Dave Aglar: chief integrated media & innovation officer, who joined from Weber Shandwick, where he spent 20 years leading social, influencer, paid media, content, analytics, and emerging tech capabilities
- Andrew Wiecek: joined as EVP of content strategy after 20 years at Weber Shandwick with expertise in building content engines optimized for algorithmic consumption
- Darrin Kayser: joined from Edelman to lead dedicated energy practice
- Joseph Sorrentino: joined from Weber Shandwick as chief intelligence officer and leading the development of PRISMA capabilities
- Abraham Espinosa: joined from Golin as executive vice president of strategy, transforming intelligence into clarity and cultural relevance for client partners
- Mike Sacks: returned to MWW after over a decade at holding company agencies as managing director of the corporate reputation advisory practice
Still a Challenger
More than 250 current and former MWW employees recently gathered in New York to celebrate the anniversary, following a two-day retreat with the agency’s senior leadership focused on the decisions and investments required for its next phase of growth.
For Kempner, growing into a larger agency does not mean abandoning the mentality that built it.
“Forty years ago, we were the challenger. We still are,” Kempner said. “There are plenty of agencies that can produce content, pitch a story or run a campaign. Our ambition is larger. We want to solve bigger business and reputation problems, make work people notice and compete for assignments that might once have seemed out of reach. We have earned the right to be more ambitious about what MWW can become.”
MikeWorldWide earns frequent industry recognition—in 2026 the agency appeared on PRNEWS’ Agency Elite list for the sixth time, and as part of the PRNet 100 for the fifth time. It was also awarded the Grand Stevie in the American Business Awards as the most decorated PR agency in the competition.
About MikeWorldWide
MikeWorldWide is an independent, integrated public relations agency built on the belief that reputation is everything. For 40 years, MWW has helped organizations build, protect and grow reputation through senior-led counsel, creative thinking and communications designed for the modern media ecosystem.
With approximately 300 professionals across the U.S., U.K. and Mexico, MWW’s Reputation Ecosystem spans Corporate Communications, Consumer Engagement, Public Affairs, Employee Communications and Crisis Management, supported by deep sector expertise and technology including PRISMA Labs.ai. The agency partners with global enterprises, category leaders and high-growth challengers on assignments where reputation, business performance and cultural relevance are inseparable.
For more information, visit mww.com.
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SOURCE MikeWorldWide
