Mark Green, global CEO of Droga5 and co-founder of Australian agency The Monkeys, died last Saturday in New York City of a “sudden and unexpected” heart attack, according to a company statement. He was 53.
“Mark made an indelible mark on the advertising industry both in Australia and globally,” the statement read. “He will be remembered not only as the visionary that he was, but for his generosity, his humor, and his empathy.”
Green—nicknamed “Greenie” by friends—was appointed global CEO of Droga5 in 2024, relocating from Australia to New York City with his family for the position. He told ADWEEK he was brought on to globalize Droga5 and prove the agency’s “glory days” were not in the rearview:
“Truly, this is the first time Droga5 has been global,” Green said at the time.
Green co-founded The Monkeys in 2006 alongside Justin Drape and Scott Nowell, whom he met at Saatchi & Saatchi. What began as an idea hatched among three friends at an Australian café became the country’s most-awarded agency for its work with The Sydney Opera House, Telstra, Qantas, Ikea, Airbnb, and Intel.
In 2017, Accenture acquired The Monkeys for a reported $63 million, later merging it with Droga5. Green oversaw the integration as Accenture Song’s president of Australia and New Zealand from 2019 to 2024.
Always quick to champion the work of his teams, Green took the spotlight himself in 2025 as an inductee into the AdNews Australia’s Advertising Hall of Fame:
“Someone once said to me that to make it in the advertising industry, you need to be smart enough to play the game, but dumb enough to think that it matters,” he wrote. “And here we are.”
Green is survived by his wife Rachel and his two children, Ari and Gisele. Droga5’s leadership said there is “more to come” on how his legacy will be celebrated in the coming weeks.
Many current and former colleagues took to LinkedIn this morning to offer condolences and give tribute to “Greenie’s” legacy:
“Everyone who knew Greenie is a better person for having had him in their lives,” wrote Grant Patrick Flannery, who worked with Green at The Monkeys and Droga5.
