Who

Dooner is chairman and CEO of the advertising giant McCann-Erickson Worldgroup.

Backstory

New York native Dooner began his career in 1970 as a media buyer at Grey Advertising. Three years later, he made the jump to Marschalk (it later became Lowe Lintas), rising through the ranks to eventually become the agency's executive VP. In 1984, Dooner jumped ship to join McCann-Erickson as senior vice president, assuming responsibility for accounts like Coca-Cola and Gillette. Despite the painful loss of much of Coke's business in the early '90s, Dooner continued to ascend through the ranks, moving up to president in 1992 and the CEO spot in 1995. He later orchestrated a major reorganization of the company, creating McCann-Erickson Worldgroup as the holding company for seven different lines of business. His ability to aggregate more than 100 agencies under one roof and yet keep them nimble enabled him to lure back Coke in 2000, and his solid track record earned him a promotion in 2001 when he was named CEO of McCann's parent, Interpublic. His stay atop Interpublic, unfortunately, was far less successful. With the downturn in the economy, the company struggled financially and an SEC investigation into accounting irregularities proved especially embarrassing. Mounting woes led to a demotion in 2003 when he was named CEO of McCann, replacing Jim Heekin, a position he'd held in the past. He currently reports to IPG CEO Michael Roth.

Of note

As CEO of McCann, Dooner oversees Interpublic's largest—and most important—division. Its billings now total some $30 billion annually—roughly triple what they were when Dooner first started at McCann in 1995. While Dooner's second ride at McCann has been decidedly less turbulent than his reign at Interpublic, the company has lost a few big accounts on his watch, like Nestle and Johnson & Johnson. (The agency still boasts more blue-chip clients than any other Interpublic unit, including GlaxoSmithKline, General Motors, Pfizer, Microsoft, Hitachi, Verizon Wireless, American Airlines, UPS, and Nikon.) But don't expect to see Dooner around for much longer. Although he's officially slated to retire by 2012, insiders expect he'll head off into the sunset any day now. McCann higher-ups like McCann Europe/Middle East/Africa president Brett Gosper and McCann U.S. president Michael McLaren are already jockeying to succeed him.

Pet causes

Dooner is a trustee at the College of New Rochelle and sits on the National Multiple Sclerosis Society board of directors.

Personal

Dooner lives with his wife, Cynthia, and their daughter, Jacyln, in Pelham Manor in Westchester. Their other daughter, Miriam, died of cancer in 2004.