Microsoft’s Mark Penn Will Start Ballmer-Backed Investment Fund
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Mark Penn, the Microsoft Corp. executive and former political strategist who popularized the term “soccer mom,” will leave the software company by September to start a private-equity fund focused on digital marketing.
The new firm, called Stagwell Group LLC, will invest in advertising, research, data analytics, public relations and online marketing companies, according to a statement Wednesday. It has raised $250 million in funding, which -- together with loans and other financing -- may let it make as much as $750 million in acquisitions.