# Stagwell Inc.
> Stagwell · STGW · New York, New York
- Profile type: Company
- Profile status: baseline
- Last updated: 2026-05-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Canonical URL: https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/stagwell/
- Also known as: Stagwell Group, The Stagwell Group, STGW, Stagwell Inc, Stagwell Marketing Cloud
## Summary
Stagwell Inc. (NASDAQ: STGW) is a publicly traded marketing-services holding company founded by Mark Penn in 2015 and formed in its current structure via the August 2021 merger with MDC Partners. Stagwell employs 13,000+ people across 35 countries, reported $2.9 billion in 2025 revenue, and positions itself as the challenger to WPP, Omnicom, IPG, Publicis, and Dentsu.

## Company facts

- Ticker: STGW
- Founded: 2015
- Headquarters: New York, New York
- Domain: stagwellglobal.com
- CEO: mark penn (https://thestateofstreaming.com/people/mark-penn/)


## Latest metrics

- Revenue: $704 million Q1 2026 (+8% YoY); $2.909 billion FY2025 (+2% YoY)
- As of: 2026-03-31
- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/876883/000087688326000017/stgw-20260331.htm


## Recent filings

- 2026-05-01 — 10-Q: Q1 2026: revenue $704M (+8% YoY), net revenue $585M (+4% YoY), adjusted EBITDA $90M (+9% YoY), record Q1 net new business of $141M. Net loss $13M. Full-year 2026 guidance maintained at 8%–12% net revenue growth. (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/876883/000087688326000017/stgw-20260331.htm)
- 2026-04-30 — 8-K: Q1 2026 earnings release: revenue $704M (+8% YoY), adjusted EPS $0.17 (+42% YoY), record Q1 net new business. $350M increase to stock repurchase authorization. (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/876883/000087688326000014/)
- 2026-03-13 — 10-K: FY2025 annual report: total revenue $2.909B (+2% YoY), net revenue $2.428B (+6% YoY), adjusted EBITDA $422M, EPS $0.08 (adjusted $0.83, +5%). Free cash flow more than doubled to $187M. FY2026 guidance: 8%–12% net revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA $475M–$525M. (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/876883/000087688326000010/stgw-20251231.htm)


## Key facts

- Stagwell Inc. (NASDAQ: STGW) is a marketing services holding company with more than 13,000 employees and over $2 billion in annual revenue. — Stagwell — Mark Penn leadership page: https://www.stagwellglobal.com/people/mark-penn/
- Stagwell Inc. was created in August 2021 through the combination of The Stagwell Group with MDC Partners; Mark Penn engineered the merger and has served as chairman and CEO since. — Wikipedia — Mark Penn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Penn
- The Stagwell Group was founded in June 2015 by Mark Penn with backing from former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Penn
- Stagwell reported $2.9 billion in revenue for full-year 2025 and predicted record new business for 2026 as the Omnicom-IPG merger created client-conflict opportunities. — Adweek: https://www.adweek.com/agencies/stagwell-posts-29b-revenue-for-2025-and-predicts-record-new-business-ahead/
- Stagwell CEO Mark Penn publicly criticized the Omnicom-IPG merger in 2025, predicting that the targeted $750M in annual synergies would translate to roughly 7,500 affected industry roles and arguing the industry didn't need 'another behemoth.' — MM+M: https://www.mmm-online.com/news/mark-penn-stagwell-ceo-on-omnicom-ipg/
- Stagwell anchored a Cannes Lions 2025 Sport Beach activation and took the main stage with United Airlines and 72andSunny on the Innovation Unwrapped track session titled "The Human Touch — Creativity Cannot Be Automated." — PR Newswire: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stagwell-stgw-chairman-and-ceo-mark-penn-to-discuss-the-irreplaceable-power-of-human-creativity-on-the-main-stage-of-cannes-lions-302476961.html
- Stagwell organizes its brands into three reportable segments — Integrated Agencies Network, Brand Performance Network, and Communications Network — comprising creative agencies (72andSunny, Anomaly, Doner, Forsman & Bodenfors), digital transformation firms (Code and Theory, YML, Instrument), media specialists (Assembly, GALE), public relations (Allison+Partners, SKDK, Hunter), and market research (the Harris Poll, NRG). — Wikipedia — Stagwell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagwell
- Four Stagwell agencies — 72andSunny, Anomaly, Code and Theory, and GALE — were named to Ad Age's 2025 Agency A-List, recognizing the network's creative and business transformation work. — PR Newswire — Stagwell: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/four-stagwell-stgw-agencies--72andsunny-anomaly-code-and-theory-and-gale---awarded-2025-ad-age-agency-a-list-recognition-for-business-and-creative-transformation-302397460.html
- Stagwell launched The Marketing Cloud (formerly Stagwell Marketing Cloud) as a unified AI-powered platform in June 2025, bundling QuestBrand and QuestDIY (Harris Poll), the PRophet suite, the People Platform, CUE, SmartAssets, and an underlying ID Graph; in late 2025 the company added Agent Cloud, a unified access layer for multimodal LLMs and AI marketing tools. — PR Newswire — The Marketing Cloud: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-marketing-cloud-launches-cutting-edge-platform-to-simplify-marketing-workflows-302478384.html
- Stagwell announced a partnership with Comcast's FreeWheel in April 2026 to build an AI-powered, outcome-first TV advertising platform for Stagwell's media agencies, integrating FreeWheel's CTV inventory and identity infrastructure into Stagwell's Marketing Cloud stack. — Advanced Television: https://www.advanced-television.com/2026/04/27/stagwell-freewheel-launch-outcome-first-tv-ad-platform/
- Stagwell's FY2025 10-K (filed March 13, 2026) reported total revenue of $2.909 billion (+2% YoY), net revenue of $2.428 billion (+6% YoY), adjusted EBITDA of $422 million, and EPS of $0.08 (adjusted EPS $0.83, +5%). The company guided FY2026 for 8%–12% net revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA of $475M–$525M. — Stagwell 10-K (SEC EDGAR): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/876883/000087688326000010/stgw-20251231.htm
- Stagwell Q1 2026 10-Q (filed May 1, 2026) reported revenue of $704 million (+8% YoY), net revenue of $585 million (+4% YoY), adjusted EBITDA of $90 million (+9% YoY), and record Q1 net new business of $141 million. The company maintained full-year 2026 guidance. — Stagwell 10-Q Q1 2026 (SEC EDGAR): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/876883/000087688326000017/stgw-20260331.htm


## Related

- mark penn (Chairman and CEO; engineered the August 2021 MDC Partners combination) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/people/mark-penn/
- omnicom (Competitor; subject of public Stagwell critique of the Omnicom-IPG merger) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/omnicom/
- interpublic group (Competitor; subject of public Stagwell critique of the Omnicom-IPG merger) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/interpublic-group/
- wpp (Competitor; legacy holdco Stagwell positions itself against) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/wpp/
- publicis groupe (Competitor; legacy holdco Stagwell positions itself against) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/publicis-groupe/
- dentsu (Competitor; legacy holdco Stagwell positions itself against) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/dentsu/
- microsoft (Former employer of Mark Penn (EVP and Chief Strategy Officer, 2014–2015); Steve Ballmer backed The Stagwell Group's 2015 founding) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/microsoft/


## External coverage

- Stagwell: Stagwell — corporate site (https://www.stagwellglobal.com/)
- Stagwell: Stagwell Investor Relations (https://investors.stagwellglobal.com/)
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Stagwell SEC filings (EDGAR) (https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=STGW&type=10-K)
- 2025-04-15 — MM+M: 'The industry doesn't need another behemoth' — Stagwell CEO on Omnicom-IPG (https://www.mmm-online.com/news/mark-penn-stagwell-ceo-on-omnicom-ipg/)
- Adweek: Stagwell Sees Record New Business as Rivals Merge (https://www.adweek.com/agencies/stagwell-posts-29b-revenue-for-2025-and-predicts-record-new-business-ahead/)
- Stagwell: The Marketing Cloud (formerly Stagwell Marketing Cloud) (https://www.themarketingcloud.com/)
- 2026-04-27 — Advanced Television: Stagwell, FreeWheel launch outcome-first TV ad platform (https://www.advanced-television.com/2026/04/27/stagwell-freewheel-launch-outcome-first-tv-ad-platform/)
- Digiday: CES Briefing: A Q&A with Stagwell's Mark Penn & the streaming ad data disconnect (https://digiday.com/marketing/ces-briefing-a-qa-with-stagwells-mark-penn-the-streaming-ad-data-disconnect/)

## Profile
Stagwell Inc. is the public-company challenger inside a marketing-services landscape otherwise dominated by the legacy holdco structure of WPP, Omnicom, IPG, Publicis, and Dentsu. The company traces to June 2015, when Mark Penn — fresh from his Microsoft Chief Strategy Officer seat — founded The Stagwell Group with backing from former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer; the public Stagwell Inc. was created in August 2021 through Penn's combination of Stagwell with MDC Partners. The combined entity now reports more than 13,000 employees and over $2 billion in annual revenue, with $2.9 billion full-year revenue for 2025 and a predicted record new-business pipeline for 2026.

The challenger posture has translated into one of the most pointed public critiques of the Omnicom-IPG merger from anywhere in the holdco peer group. Penn told MM+M in April 2025 that the targeted $750M in annual synergies between the two would translate to roughly 7,500 affected industry roles and that the industry didn't need 'another behemoth' — language he repeated across Marketing Dive, Adweek, and PR Week through Cannes Lions 2025. The Cannes program also produced Stagwell's Sport Beach activation and the main-stage 'The Human Touch: Creativity Can't Be Automated' session with United Airlines and 72andSunny.

Stagwell trades on the Nasdaq under STGW. The company files standard SEC quarterly and annual reports; the most recent filings, leadership disclosures, and investor presentations are maintained at the Stagwell investor-relations site and on EDGAR.

## Tags

- holdco
- marketing-services
- public
- NASDAQ
- challenger-holdco
- advertising-agency
- mark-penn

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