Matthew Freud
Matthew Freud (born 2 November 1963) is head of Freud Communications, an international public relations firm in the United Kingdom.
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[edit]Biography
Freud is the son of June Flewett and the late writer Sir Clement Freud, his sister is television interviewer Emma Freud. His great-grandfather is Sigmund Freud and he is doubly related to the 'father' of public relations, Edward Bernays, whose father was Sigmund Freud's brother-in-law (the brother of Sigmund Freud's wife) and whose mother was Sigmund Freud's sister. He is the nephew of artist Lucian Freud and (by former marriage) of the late writer Lady Caroline Blackwood, and his cousins include fashion designer Bella Freud, novelists Susie Boyt andEsther Freud.
He was educated at Westminster School and left in his third year and briefly attended Pimlico Comprehensive.
[edit]Career
Freud Communications is currently the eighth largest public relations company in the UK, with around 150 employees. Landmark campaigns include the London 2012 Olympics, Product (RED), Nike, Pepsi, The Opening of Atlantis The Palm and UNHCR's Gimme Shelter.[1] Adam Curtis in his documentary Century of the Self describes Matthew Freud as a star in the "new culture of public relations and marketing in politics, business and journalism" which rose in the Clinton-Blair years.[2] PRWeek says that Freud is "the most influential PR professional in the UK".[3]
Matthew Freud, along with his sister Emma Freud and brother-in-law Richard Curtis, sit on the board of Trustees for Comic Relief, which is aired every second year on the BBC as a nationwide charity event.[4]
In May 2005, in partnership with Piers Morgan, he acquired ownership of the Press Gazette, a media trade publication, and its 'cash cow' the British Press Awards, in a deal worth £1million.[5][6] Many major newspapers have boycotted the event citing an apparent conflict of interest as one of the reasons.[7][8] In addition to owning a publication, Freud is married to Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of Rupert Murdoch.
Matthew Freud Associates first nationwide campaign was in 1989 for JIFFI deLuxe Condoms founded by Michael Conitzer in 1986. Matthew was responsible for some of the most memorable JIFFI Pr campaigns which finally resulted in JIFFI being sold to the giant Maylaysian listed conglomerate, Sime Darby Plc in 1990.
[edit]Personal life
Freud's first wife was Caroline Hutton with whom he had two sons: George Rupert Freud and Jonah Henry Freud. Caroline subsequently married the 9th Earl Spencer on 15 December 2001, he being the brother of the deceased Diana, Princess of Wales.
His second wife is Elisabeth Murdoch, second daughter of media magnate Rupert Murdoch head of News Corporation. When the couple began dating (while working as colleagues), she was pregnant with a second child by her first husband and business partner, Elkin Pianim (the son of Ghanaian financial and political mogul, Kwame Pianim). The couple married in August 2001 at Blenheim Palace.[9] They have two children, Charlotte Emma Freud, born in 2000, and Samson Murdoch Freud, born in 2007.[citation needed]
He has a friendship with several members of the Conservative party including George Osborne and David Cameron. He was infamously at a meal, attended by Osborne and Peter Mandelson, where it was alleged Osborne attempted to solicit a donation for the Conservatives from Oleg Deripaska, the Russian billionaire. Freud has also invited Cameron to many events and is part of the so-called 'Notting Hill set' of influential Conservative-linked figures.
[edit]References
- ^ http://www.freud.com/
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/century_of_the_self_episode_4.shtml
- ^ http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/features/specialReports/893996/Power-Book-top-ten-PR-gurus-revealed/
- ^ Comic Relief - Trustees
- ^ Journalism.co.uk
- ^ The Guardian
- ^ 2006 British Press Awards
- ^ Daily Telegraph, Jan 24 2006 - Money
- ^ Teather, David (2001-08-18). "A private affair as golden couple keep wedding out of limelight". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
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