Brian McMahon Retires from IPG

IPG announced today that Brian McMahon, a 25-year IPG veteran and the founding CEO of Orion, is retiring from IPG and will take on leadership alongside his wife, Karen, of MRDW, their global realty development company.

Brian joined IPG in 1998 as Global CEO of media agency Orion. Over 23 years, he and his team continued to evolve Orion to meet client needs, delivering unique business solutions for clients around the world. Named a Media Maven by Advertising Age, Brian also oversaw and reshaped several IPG specialty units, including Newspaper Services of America, Wahlstrom, Rapport, ID Media and BPN, unlocking growth and delivering value to clients domestically and internationally. In early 2021, Brian joined IPG corporate as a senior business advisor.

Said Philippe Krakowsky, CEO of IPG, “Brian is not only a strong leader and business creator, he’s been one of our biggest advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion during his entire career with IPG. Under his leadership, Orion was consistently among the highest ranked agencies in IPG’s company-wide Climate for Inclusion survey. Brian always considered DE&I a key driver of his business success. We thank him for his service to our company and wish Karen and Brian the best of luck in their enterprise together.”

MRDW has had projects featured in many publications, including HGTV Magazine and Architectural Digest, and in design books. Brian’s wife Karen is a three-time cancer survivor and has been designing and building homes in multiple countries for over 30 years. MRDW has recently begun work on a 52-acre project in Galway, Ireland.

Brian McMahon added, “I have loved my time at IPG – especially the people I’ve been honored to call colleagues. Much of our success has been thanks to Philippe, who has been a terrific mentor for me personally over the decades. I’m looking forward to this next chapter.”