MediaVest’s Salvatore Is Dead at 50

NEW YORK Donna Salvatore, a media veteran for nearly 25 years and most recently chief investment strategist at MediaVest USA, died on Friday at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital here of a brain aneurysm, an agency representative said. She was 50.

Salvatore held numerous management positions at Publicis Groupe’s MediaVest, including director of strategic development, president of broadcast and chief executive officer. In November, she stepped down from the role of CEO to take on the chief investment strategist post.

She began her career on the national broadcast side of the business in 1978 at N.W. Ayer, followed by positions at Compton Advertising and Needham Harper & Steers, New York. In June 1981, she joined Benton & Bowles, New York, which became D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in 1985. At D’Arcy, she was named vice president in 1985, senior vice president in 1986, and an executive vice president and member of the four-person TeleVest management committee in 1993.

She is survived by her husband Matthew Vaccaro; two children, Benjamin Vaccaro and Alexandra Vaccaro; and siblings Rose DiBacco and Linda Guida.