Sitrick and Company
Sitrick and Company is a Los Angeles-based public relations firm started by Mike Sitrick in 1989. It would go on to establish offices in New York, Miami, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley.[1] Sitrick and Company works together with Brinko Associates as the Sitrick Brincko Group to offer management consulting services. The group counts among its employees retired United States Army Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum.[2]
Purchase by Resources Connection
In October 2009, Sitrick and Company and restructuring firm Brincko Associates were purchased by Deloitte spin-off Resources Connection Inc. in a combined cash and stock deal worth $43.3 million. At the time, Sitrick and Company had 45 staff members (largely ex-journalists from the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other media organizations), versus Resources' 2,700.[3] The two purchased firms had a combined revenue of $24.4 million in 2008, according to Resources Connection. The purchase combined the two into a new subsidiary, the Sitrick Brincko Group.[4] Mike Sitrick continued as head of the subsidiary after its purchase.[5]
In 2010, two ex-employees filed suit in federal court regarding Sitrick's buyout of the Employee Share Ownership Plan's holdings in the company in 2008, shortly prior to the Resources Connection deal; the suit alleged that Sitrick paid an unreasonably low price for the ESOP's stake, causing losses to the employees in question.[6] Sitrick responded in court papers that an independent trustee, which had its own financial advisor and lawyers, had in fact negotiated the price, not him. The case settled shortly thereafter with insurance companies providing the settlement.
Clientele
Sitrick and Company is known for its handling of famous or controversial clients, and it has been estimated that they have had 1000 clients.[3] [7] Its work earned Sitrick the title of "the king of crisis PR".[8]
David Duchovny hired the firm to represent him to the media in his dispute with 20th Century Fox regarding breach of contract relating to his work on the The X-Files television show; Sitrick and Company arranged for a feature in Forbes regarding Fox's vertical monopoly, which put pressure on Fox to settle with Duchovny.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles hired the firm in 2002 regarding the diocese's sexual abuse scandal.[9]
Hewlett-Packard and its departing chairwoman Patricia C. Dunn hired the firm to handle media relations regarding HP's 2006 leak-investigation crisis.[10]
Paris Hilton made use of their services after she was released from a brief time in jail.[3] Steven Page of music group Barenaked Ladies hired the firm in 2008 after his own drug arrest.[11]
Medicis Pharmaceutical CEO Jonah Shacknai hired the firm following the 2011 death of Rebecca Zahau.[12]
Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein hired the firm in 2011 following the bad press he received after rekindling his friendship with Prince Andrew. As of December 2014, the matter is still before courts with Sitrick and Company claiming Epstein still has not paid an outstanding $103,500 bill.[13]
Sitrick advised "the late Roy Disney and Stanley Gold when he orchestrated their campaign to remove Michael Eisner as chairman of Walt Disney in 2003. The campaign led to 43 per cent of Disney shareholders withholding their support from him. Eisner later stepped down voluntarily."[14]
In late January 2013 the firm was asked by Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter to ask journalists to take down the Obamacare comments he made claiming that the price of pizza would increase by 11 cents. "It also admits that it’s spent the past several months asking those journalists who’ve reported on the matter to remove their coverage, and brags that “in virtually all of these cases, we have been dealing with responsible journalists who have done just that.”[15]
In June 2014, Sitrick and Company began representing South Korean fugitive Yoo Byung-eun. After a failed attempt from Yoo's public relations company, Ahae Press, to deny a number of the assertions made about Yoo in John Power's article titled "The Cults of South Korea" on 17 June 2014 in The Diplomat, Sitrick and Company representing Yoo on June 19, asked sections of the piece on Korean cults be removed.[16][17]
References
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- ↑ http://everything-pr.com/michael-sitrick-and-company/
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- ↑ http://pagesix.com/2014/12/18/jeffrey-epstein-owes-crisis-p-r-firm-103k/
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