Ivy Lee

Ivy Ledbetter Lee (July 16, 1877 – November 9, 1934) was an American publicity expert and a founder of modern public relations. Lee is best known for his public relations work with the Rockefeller Family.

His first major client was the Pennsylvania Railroad, followed by numerous major railroads such as the New York Central, the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Harriman lines such as the Union Pacific.

He established the Association of Railroad Executives, which included providing public relations services to the industry. Lee advised major industrial corporations, including steel, automobile, tobacco, meat packing and rubber, as well as public utilities, banks and foreign governments.

IG Farben was another client. In the 1920s, the company had ties to the liberal nationalist German People's Party and was accused by the Nazis of being an "international capitalist Jewish company". Shortly before Lee's death, the Nazi takeover of Germany in 1933 made the company into a major government contractor, which would later provide significant material for the German war effort.

Lee pioneered the use of internal magazines to maintain employee morale, as well as management newsletters, stockholder reports and news releases to the media. He did a great deal of pro bono work, which he knew was important to his own public image. During WWI, he became the publicity director for the American Red Cross.