Columbia Journalism Review described him as “a public relations puppet master who has pulled the strings behind some of the biggest stories in media”, adding that “talking with Michael Sitrick is a confusing game. That’s why he’s good. That’s why he’s scary”
— Michael Sitrick
Michael Sitrick is the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sitrick And Company, an internationally recognized expert in the strategic use of communications.
Sitrick And Company focuses on corporate, financial, transactional and crisis communications. The firm’s experience within those areas is both broad and deep, ranging from corporate bankruptcies to Academy Award campaigns.
You know Michael Sitrick.
Even if you don’t know his name, you know his work. And even if you don’t know his work, you know the people and companies that are indebted to him. He has advised presidential candidates, helped launch companies, tackled mammoth scandals, provided litigation support for big cases and small and put pressure on some of the world’s highest profile executives and largest companies. He is, unquestionably, who you call in a crisis.
Sitrick is a PR mogul. The Los Angeles Times called him “The Wizard of Spin.” Forbes dubbed him “The Flack For When You’re Under Attack.” The Financial Times said he is “the spin doctor’s spin doctor.” If a high-powered person or company is in trouble, he knows how to flip the narrative on its head without ever uttering a false word. His reputation is warranted by a lengthy, successful track record: Sitrick first exploded onto the crisis management scene 33 years ago, immediately taking on noteworthy clients. Those early clients included Roy Disney, the son of the co-founder of The Walt Disney Company, who was navigating the acquisition of Polaroid at the time. He later developed and implemented the communications strategy for the withhold vote he led against Michael Eisner, then Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. Roy Disney remained a client of Sitrick’s until his death 20 years later. Such high-profile clientele triggered the need for a firm, so, in February 1989, Sitrick And Company was born.
Since then, Sitrick’s considerable roster has included clients from all sectors, including former chairwoman of HP Patricia Dunn, Guggenheim Partners, Wynn Resorts, Cerberus, KKR, McKinsey, Oaktree Capital, Kobe Bryant, The Los Angeles Dodgers, Bond King Bill Gross, commentator Rush Limbaugh, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and many more. He is famous in the journalism industry for his 1992 work with grocer Food Lion, which was under fire for allegedly selling expired meat, rat-gnawed cheese and having filthy stores. Those allegations were first reported by ABC News, which sent undercover journalists into the company’s factories. When Sitrick was brought on board, using outtakes he proved the broadcast was wrong and pivoted the heat in the other direction. In doing so, he spun the story into one about bad journalism, impacting journalistic practices for years to come. His work is now a Columbia Journalism School case study.
— LAWDRAGON
“Now (they) have hired Michael Sitrick, whose Los Angeles public-relations firm is known for going atomic on opponents, using “truth squads” (which dig up alleged inaccuracies in the media), “wheel-of-pain” tactics (negative publicity to quicken settlements), and high-profile journalists (who write profiles).”
BUSINESS WEEK
“The firm is also home to perhaps the most concentrated congregation of journalistic talent in the public relations business. The vast majority of its senior professionals are former editors, reporters, and correspondents at such publications as Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, CBS News, and NPR, with most of the others having spent time in senior corporate communications positions.”
THE HOLMES REPORT
“Like more than one figure caught in a media cyclone, (he) had turned to one of the most accomplished practitioners of the dark arts of public relations…. The Winston Wolf of public relations had arrived. Wolf, as you will recall, was the fixer in Pulp Fiction…he washed away assassins’ blood and gore. Sitrick cleans up the messes of companies, celebrities, and others, and he’s a strategist who isn’t adverse to treating PR as combat.”
FORTUNE MAGAZINE
LOS ANGELES
11999 San Vicente Blvd
Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90049
P: 310.788.2850
NEW YORK
1500 Broadway
Suite 1901
New York, NY 10036
P: 310.788.2850
WASHINGTON D.C.
8405 Greensboro Dr.
#900
McLean, VA 22102
P: 703-610-3420
East COAST
1.800.288.8809
Need Help?
WEST COAST
1.800.699.1481
The Podcast
Michael Sitrick, founder and CEO of his eponymous Los Angeles-based firm which the New York Times called “the city’s most prominent crisis management firm” and former journalist and senior partner at that firm, Sallie Hofmeister, speak with America’s great legal minds about the behind-the-scenes media strategies of some of the world’s highest-stakes legal cases. Season 2 coming soon!
