Edelman (firm)

Edelman is an American public relations firm founded and named after Daniel Edelman (July 3, 1920 – January 15, 2013) and currently run by his son Richard Edelman. Founded as a team of three in the postwar boom, today the company has revenues of over $812 million annually, employs over 5,000 people with co-headquarters in New York City and Chicago and is the world's largest independently owned public relations firm.

Corporate history

Edelman public relations was founded in Chicago in 1952 by former journalist Daniel J. Edelman as Daniel J. Edelman and Associates. The company started with three employees and grew to serve 25 accounts by 1960. Edelman established a second office in New York that same year and a third in Los Angeles in 1967.

The firm opened offices in London, Canada, Asia and Europe in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The New York office grew from $1 to $20 million in revenues from 1979 to the late 1980s under the leadership of Daniel Edelman's son, Richard Edelman. By 1981, Edelman had five international offices and it opened six more over the following decade. Some former employees and industry experts said its focus on financial growth led to high turnover and client service issues as a result. There was also an unsuccessful attempt by some employees to start their own firm with some of Edelman's clients.

Business

A business, also known as an enterprise, agency or a firm, is an entity involved in the provision of goods and/or services to consumers. Businesses are prevalent in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and provide goods and services to customers in exchange for other goods, services, or money. Businesses may also be social not-for-profit enterprises or state-owned public enterprises targeted for specific social and economic objectives. A business owned by multiple individuals may be formed as an incorporated company or jointly organised as a partnership. Countries have different laws that may ascribe different rights to the various business entities.

Business can refer to a particular organization or to an entire market sector, e.g. "the music business". Compound forms such as agribusiness represent subsets of the word's broader meaning, which encompasses all activity by suppliers of goods and services. The goal is for sales to be more than expenditures resulting in a profit.

The Firm (hip hop group)

The Firm was an American hip hop supergroup that formed in New York City in 1996. It was created by rapper Nas, his manager Steve Stoute, producer Dr. Dre and production team the Trackmasters. The group was composed of East Coast-based rappers Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ and Nature, who served as a replacement for Cormega after he was ousted from the group.

Although the group received initial hype and high expectations from fans upon their formation after collectively signing to Dr. Dre's Aftermath label, The Firm's debut album, The Album (1997), generated disappointing sales and generally negative criticism. The album, which featured predominant mafioso rap-themes and production from Dr. Dre and the Trackmasters, was criticized for its mainstream, pop-orientation. Their debut album was the group's only release and they disbanded in 1998 with each member continuing their solo careers.

Background

The Firm's origins lie in the recording of Nas' studio album It Was Written (1996), which included a collaboration on the song "Affirmative Action" with East Coast-based rappers AZ, Cormega, and Foxy Brown. The supergroup was a project created by rapper Nas, his manager Steve Stoute, West Coast-based rapper and producer Dr. Dre, and production team the Trackmasters. The resulting line-up included Nas, Brown, AZ and rapper Nature. Cormega had been ousted from the group and was replaced by Nature prior to recording The Firm's debut, due to artistic differences between him and Nas, as well as contract disagreements with Nas' manager Steve Stoute. According to Poke & Tone, 50 Cent and Mary J. Blige were tentatively considered for the group.

The Firm (EastEnders)

The Firm is a fictional gangland organisation in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

Role within EastEnders

1980s era

The Firm, aka "Walford Investments", is first introduced to the show in 1986, and is represented by the sharp-suited Gregory Mantel (Pavel Douglas), the lackeys Brad Williams (Jonathan Stratt) and Joanne Francis (Pamela Salem), and the elusive boss Mr. Vinnicombe.

The Firm owns Strokes wine bar, a front for illegal gambling, which is reluctantly managed by Den Watts (Leslie Grantham). It is thought by Mantel that Den, a well-known local publican, will not attract any suspicion to the illegal goings-on at the bar. The Firm is also responsible for a protection racket involving the bar's rival, The Dagmar, which they financially ruin when the bar's owner James Willmott-Brown (William Boyde) refuses to let them buy into the place. When Den wants revenge on Willmot-Brown for raping his best friend's wife, he persuades The Firm's Brad Williams to burn the place to the ground. This enrages The Firm's bosses, as it draws attention to the illegal gambling going on at Strokes.