Howard J. Rubenstein
| Howard J. Rubenstein | |
|---|---|
 Rubenstein at the 2010 Time 100 Gala | |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Known for | Public relations |
| Website |
www |
Howard J. Rubenstein is an American lawyer and public relations expert. He has been called "the dean of damage control" by Rudolph Giuliani.[1]
Rubenstein grew up in a Jewish-American household in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, on 74th St. near Bay Parkway with an older sister. His mother was a homemaker, and his father was a Jewish[2] crime reporter for the Herald Tribune.[3] He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Phi Beta Kappa in 1953 with a degree in economics.[3] He then attended Harvard Law School, but dropped out partway through the first semester.[3]
He then began writing press releases for a Brooklyn nursing home, the Menorah Home and Hospital for the Aged and Infirm, after his father had introduced him to some officials at the home.[1][3][4] Initially he worked out of his parents' kitchen, but later moved out after his parents refused to answer the phone saying "Rubenstein Associates".
Business grew quickly; as Rubenstein later said, "I was the only Democratic press agent in Brooklyn, so the politicians started coming to me".[3] He enrolled in St. John's University Law School to take night classes, and graduated in 1959 first in his class.[1][3] He then took a job as an assistant counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, but quit after six months.[3]
He is the president and founder of Rubenstein Associates, which has been described as the most influential public relations organization in New York City.[4] The firm was founded in 1954. Rubenstein’s more notable clients include many of New York’s iconic organizations including: The New York Yankees,[5] News Corporation,[6] Columbia University,[4] New York Philharmonic,[6] Sarah – Duchess of York, Rupert Murdoch [7] and The Metropolitan Opera.[6]
He has been described as “a PR genius”, and as “Public Relations royalty”.[7][8]
References
- 1 2 3 Blaine Harden (1999-09-30). "Image Spinner at the Center of a Web; Rubenstein, 'Dean of Damage Control' for New York's Powerful". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
- ↑ "Paul Bendix Rubenstein's Obituary on Herald Tribune". Retrieved September 30, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Richard T. Pienciak (1997-06-08). "Howard J. Rubenstein is the Prince of Public Relations Who Rose From His Own Corner Office Knowing That... Image Is Everything". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
- 1 2 3 William Geist (1990-04-08). "What Really Makes New York Work; Dan Klores: The Man Behind The Images". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
- ↑ Richard Sandomir (2005-07-01). "BASEBALL; The Voice of the Boss Is Often a Voice of Reason". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- 1 2 3 Ken Auletta (2007-02-12). "The Fixer: Why New Yorkers call Howard Rubenstein when they've got a problem.". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- 1 2 "Rubenstein PR: Howard, Steven, and Richard - A PR Dynasty". September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
- ↑ A film clip "The Open Mind - A Further Conversation with a PR Guru (2007)" is available at the Internet Archive