In this New York Times profile, Mark Penn is featured as the head of “strategic and special projects” at Microsoft; the position has sharp implications for the archenemy of Google, the search engine that is currently winning the brutal battle for the top between the two giants though is also in the midst of a longstanding antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission for potential abuse of dominance, among other inquiries. Penn has built his reputation within the public relations world for turning corporate competition into political attack campaigns of sorts, and has become the secret attack dog for Microsoft who is quickly learning it cannot depend on a potential negative outcome for Google of its outstanding investigations to pull ahead. The Times highlights Penn’s history in politics – sometimes scarred by soured relationships – and highlights his merciless battle to help Microsoft finally pull ahead of Google.
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