Niels Laurberg

About Niels Laurberg

Niels Laurberg is Chief Investment Officer at Stagwell (STGW), appointed July 8, 2025, leading global M&A and reporting to CEO Mark Penn as part of the Senior Leadership Committee . He has been part of Stagwell’s M&A team since 2018, rising to “number two” in the department before his promotion; he holds a B.A. in Economics (with honors) from Harvard University . Company-level strategic targets referenced alongside his appointment include achieving $5B revenue in five years and $80–100M in AI-led efficiencies; cost synergies of $65M have been realized since 2021 (context for his operating environment, not individual metrics) . No individual TSR, revenue growth, or EBITDA performance metrics tied to Laurberg are disclosed in filings .

Past Roles

External Roles

No public company directorships or external governance roles disclosed in STGW filings or the company’s appointment press release .

Fixed Compensation

Not disclosed for Laurberg; he is not a named executive officer (NEO) in the 2025 proxy and the CD&A covers CEO, President, CFO, COO, and CAO only . Any cash compensation elements specific to Laurberg are not reported in the proxy or the July 2025 8-K appointment materials .

Performance Compensation

Not disclosed for Laurberg (no RSU/PSU grant details, performance metrics, targets, or vesting schedules specific to him are reported). General plan features from the Third Amended and Restated 2016 Stock Incentive Plan include: minimum one-year vesting (limited exceptions), no automatic single-trigger vesting on change-in-control, no repricing without shareholder approval, no dividends on unvested awards, and no tax gross-ups .

Equity Ownership & Alignment

• Insider Trading & Alignment Policies

  • Hedging prohibited for all employees; pledging limited to 40% of a person’s common stock (excluding unvested shares) with approval; currently, no officer or director has hedged or pledged stock .
  • Insider Trading Policy applies to directors, officers, employees, consultants, and contractors .

• Beneficial Ownership

  • No Form 4 or Section 16 ownership disclosures for Laurberg were identified in available filings; he is not listed in the 2025 proxy’s “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” table (which covers directors and NEOs) . Monitor future Section 16 filings following his designation as CIO (July 2025) .

Employment Terms

• Role: Appointed Chief Investment Officer, reporting to CEO; responsibility to lead M&A globally and participate in senior leadership governance .
• Plan-level CIC & Vesting: For new awards, time-based vesting does not automatically accelerate upon change-in-control absent termination without cause or resignation for good reason; performance-based awards use pro-rata adjustments under CIC, with committee discretion in certain cases .
• Clawback Policy: Executive incentive compensation awarded after Oct 1, 2023 and based on financial measures is subject to recovery following accounting restatements .

Investment Implications

• Strategic leverage: Elevation to CIO formalizes leadership over M&A, a core Stagwell lever for scale and capabilities; he inherits a pipeline within a plan targeting $5B revenue in five years and $80–100M AI-led efficiencies, suggesting active portfolio optimization and potential inorganic growth catalysts .
• Alignment and risk: Strong governance on hedging/pledging and minimum vesting supports long-term alignment; absence of disclosed personal ownership and compensation metrics creates a monitoring need—watch for Section 16 filings (Form 3/4) and RSU/PSU grants to assess retention risk and potential insider selling pressure .
• Execution focus: Prior seven-year M&A tenure and internal promotion indicate continuity in deal strategy; coordination with the Chief Strategy Officer and finance leadership changes may influence capital allocation, synergy capture, and quality of acquisitions through the cycle .