Pete Wootton

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, Corporate Reputation & Brand Purpose

Pete Wootton is executive vice president on the agency’s Corporate Reputation & Brand Purpose, with a core presence on the Microsoft account. He leads a cross-disciplinary team working across financial, executive, crisis and employee communications to tell integrated stories about how WE’s clients and their leadership teams show up in the world.

Wootton has been with WE for more than two decades, working his way from supporting an account team to driving new client pursuits and leading accounts. He has driven corporate and brand communications for the Microsoft account since 2009, and worked across a variety of Microsoft product and corporate teams for the decade prior. Along the way, he also partnered on strategic communications efforts around the first-ever in-flight Wi-Fi system developed by Boeing, helped steer Microsoft’s financial narrative during the downturn of 2008-2009 and the years following, and was a key player in executing the CEO transition from Steve Ballmer to Satya Nadella. As part of that work, he landed and managed the first cover story of Nadella’s tenure as CEO in Wired Magazine, which coincided with the launch of Microsoft’s effort in mixed reality.

He and his team focus on financial communications, using balance sheets and news strategy to tell exciting stories about growth, innovation and the power of technology to change lives. He has led the agency teams responsible for landing Microsoft’s acquisitions of LinkedIn, GitHub, Yammer and many others, in addition to a host of strategic partnerships and investments. He advises the company’s senior-most communications executives and the overall executive team on issues management, product disclosure, employee issues, and things in the industry and political realm.

Having developed deep and active editorial relationships across global business, financial and technology media outlets, Wootton is one of the agency’s top media strategists, regularly tapped by account teams across all sectors to troubleshoot or construct big company stories and executive platforms. His understanding of both story and the needs of the media is reflected in many of WE’s shared client successes.

Outside work, Pete spends as much time as possible with his boys, Elliott and Noah. He has played guitar most of his life, more offstage than on, and is a fanatic about music, sports, and travelling and exploring new places.