 Matt Steinfeld |
Matt Steinfeld, who was director of policy communications at Facebook, is joining Japanese telecommunications giant Softbank Group as corporate communications director on April 1.
At FB, he tackled issues such as data privacy, cybersecurity, election integrity and safety. He joined the social media giant following its 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp, where he was global communications director and adviser to co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton.
Earlier, Steinfeld was at WPP’s Glover Park Group, where he did work for Ford, Microsoft, Washington Post, World Wildlife Fund and JP Morgan Chase.
Softbank is pushing for federal approval of the merger of its 80 percent-owned Sprint with T-Mobile.
It has been beefing up its US PR capabilities since the November hire of Gary Ginsberg, former Time Warner/News Corp. executive and Clinton White House alum, as head of communications.
Softbank last month added Sarah Lubman, ex-Brunswick Group partner and Wall Street Journal reporter, as partner, corporate communication.
Established through a founding gift from 2025 Page Hall of Fame inductee and former Weber Shandwick Global CEO Andy Polansky, the fund is meant to serve as a catalyst for empowering future senior communications leaders as well as increasing the diversity in the chief communications officer pipeline.
Some well-honed communications strategies typically deployed in an activist situation must be set aside when the activist is also the founder of the company. Such situations require a more tailored response: one that respects the founder’s credibility without conceding the company’s future, addresses shareholders’ financial interests while acknowledging questions of legacy, and anticipates that the fight may be as personal and persistent as it is strategic.
Molly Fogarty, who rose to head of corporate affairs & sustainability at Nestle during a nearly 23-year stint, will join Brunswick Group as a partner in DC on Sept. 14.
Senior leaders have been exiting newly combined agencies since the wave of integrations started—the kind of departures that don't always make headlines but show up in who's running client accounts six months later.
Why CEO visibility is no longer optional as a communications tactic.
