The Moneymen: Randy Weisenburger

More than three years ago, Omnicom CEO John Wren became acquainted with Randy Weisenburger at their daughters' primary school in Greenwich, Conn. Wren was looking for a successor to his company's longtime CFO, Fred Meyer, who was about to retire. Weisenburger had been running Wasserstein Perilla's merchant-banking operations for more than a decade, so it made sense for Wren to ask him for names of suitable candidates. Weisenburger complied, not realizing Wren's request was a subtle suggestion that his fellow school dad consider the job. When Wren became more overt in his intentions, Weisenburger paused. The Wall Street executive, then in his late 30s, was caught up in the heady life of wheeling and dealing. He had handled transactions like the sale of Maybelline to L'Oréal in 1996. Moving into the bureaucratic ranks of a holding company wasn't a career shift he had anticipated. "I initially said no to John. But when I looked closer at Omnicom, it amazed me," says Weisenburger. "It's a place with a very small group of executives who work very much like merchant bankers. This is a company with an unusually high performance over a long period of time." Even the industry's worst year in recent memory couldn't shake that consistency. Weisenburger, who became Omnicom's CFO in January 1999, is one of the few financial executives who has good news to deliver to Wall Street. Omnicom last week reported full-year earnings of $2.70 per share in 2001, up from $2.40 the previous year. Such results extend the company's streak of revenue and earnings gains to 42 consecutive quarters. Along with Wren, Weisenburger, 43, is an integral part of the younger team succeeding Bruce Crawford, former Omnicom CEO, and the well-regarded Meyer. "Randy's absolutely brilliant—one of my best hires," says Wren. "In doing [merchant banking], he was always identifying sensible businesses that merchant bankers invest in. They look at the intrinsic value and how they unlock that value and sell it. At Omnicom, we're looking for companies with that strategic value, but we're not looking to sell. We're looking for quality companies and quality management, and we come up with ways to unlock the value there." Between his stints at Coopers & Lybrand and First Boston Corp., Weisenburger attended the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, where he graduated atop of his MBA class. That blue-chip financial pedigree creates an easy bond with his Wall Street constituents. "He understands exactly what investors are looking for," says Alexia Quadrani, an analyst with Bear Stearns. "He's very knowledgeable about the financial aspects of a company. Talking to him, you always get the impression that Omnicom has a strong grasp of financial controls." Omnicom has long been considered marketing communications' best-managed entity, a view reflected in the value of its stock, currently priced at $85.30, trading at more than 27 times projected earnings. IPG may now be the industry's largest player, but Omnicom is its most valued in the eyes of investors, with a market capitalization of $15 billion, compared to IPG's nearly $11 billion. "I've had an easier time of it, following Fred Meyer," says Weisenburger. "It's a tough environment to digest deals, and I haven't had to do that." While Wren has acquired more than 150 companies, Omnicom has proven astute in its acquisition strategy. It was an early entrant into Internet firms, getting in ahead of the high valuations. Deals were structured with earn-out payments based on profitability. Since these businesses tended not to make money, Omnicom's base investment was low, and it wasn't hard hit by the category's collapse. These investments have since been moved into Seneca, a joint venture between Omnicom and Wall Street buyout firm Pegasus, where they are being restructured. A mountain climber and marathon runner, Weisenburger doesn't shy away from risky challenges. But when it comes to running Omnicom's finances, he takes no chances. "We focus a lot on the efficiencies of operations—areas that don't affect people: real estate, cash management, purchasing. We institute programs that allow us to be more efficient," he says. "The key in operating our business is to operate tighter than the next guy.

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The Moneymen: Randy Weisenburger

Noreen O'Leary

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Noreen O'Leary