Daniel J. Edelman, founder and chairman of the eponymous public relations agency, died today of heart failure, the agency confirmed. He was 92 years old.
Edelman founded Edelman, the company, in 1952 in Chicago. It is now among the largest and most prestigious public relations networks in the world, representing clients including Kraft, Unilever and Samsung.
Edelman, a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, served during World War II in the intelligence division of the U.S. Army where he produced newspapers for other soldiers and analyzed German propaganda. After the war, Edelman also worked as a news writer at CBS and a publicist at record label Musicraft and hair-care company Toni before launching his own firm. Toni was its first client. Cake company Sara Lee was its second.
Edelman’s accomplishments also included inventing the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line in 1981 and working with StarKist to introduce dolphin-safe nets in 1989.
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