Jack Bensimon has quietly departed from the agency he co-founded in 1993, Tadiem confirmed on Friday.

“Old news, but yes, I can confirm Jack left Tadiem over the summer. Everyone at Tadiem wishes him well,” Joseph Bonnici, CCO, owner, Tadiem told strategy after recieving a news tip of his exit. “Colleen Peddie has been appointed our new Board Chair. The ownership of the company is now Colleen, Amin Todai and myself.”

Bonnici would not disclose any further details regarding the founder’s departure. Bensimon’s LinkedIn profile has been updated to show the end of his tenure with Tadiem and the statement: “After 31 years as co-founder, CSO, CEO, and Board Chair of Tadiem Inc, I am looking for a new challenge.”

Bensimon opened the doors to his namesake agency Bensimon Byrne more than 30 years ago in Toronto, with Eaton’s department store as its first client. Over the years, Bensimon helped lead M&A projects, including the sale of the company and a management buyback, as well as the acquisition of OneMethod and the launch of subsidiaries like Narrative. The agency was later folded into a 200-plus person collective of marketing companies – OneMethod, Narrative, Folk and HiFi – called Tadiem.

Bensimon and his agency is best known for iconic slogans like “I Am Canadian” for Molson and “You’re Richer Than You Think” for Scotiabank, as well as its involvement in successful political campaigns, such as Justin Trudeau’s 2015 federal election win. He was also inducted into the Marketing Hall of Legends in 2014. David Rosenberg, one of the chief architects behind those campaigns, annnounced his retirement shortly before Bensimon’s own departure in July 2024.

Bonnici told strategy that Tadiem is seeing more “global opportunities as clients look for agency partners that can do it all and do it beautifully and efficiently across many geographies.” He added that Tadiem is tracking roughly 45% of its business from the U.S., particularly on accounts such as a J&J and an unnamed independent brewer. As a result, the agency plans to focus on North American and global accounts in 2025.

This fall, the collective relaunched NarrativeXPR and added an AI-focused division, Super Proper, with the former shop recently landing the Audi account. Meanwhile, the Combine – Tadiem’s workspace concept that includes retail space, a café, a bar and venue – has been hosting events for industry associations like RGD and the APG. “And now we’re looking forward to doing more of that with two more events already scheduled for early 2025,” adds Bonnici.