Ronn Torossian

Ronn D. Torossian is an American public relations executive, founder of New York City-based 5W Public Relations (5WPR), and author.
His public relations firm, 5WPR, had revenues of about $21 million in 2015. As a public relations executive, Torossian built his firm's brand through aggressive media tactics, which have, at times, enmeshed him in controversy.

Torossian was born in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in The Bronx and attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City. While at SUNY Albany, Torossian became national president of the North American branch of Betar, the international Zionist youth movement associated with Israel's Likud party. In 1994, Torossian and Rabbi Avi Weiss publicly protested against the awarding of the Nobel Peace Price to Yassar Arafat, and were detained and released. After college, he moved to Israel, and co-founded with fellow Betar members who also became Israeli politicians, Danny Danon and Yoel Hasson, an organization called "Yerushalayim Shelanu" (Our Jerusalem), which promoted Israeli settlement in Eastern Jerusalem.

Torossian began his career in public relations in 1998, working with then New York City Council speaker Peter Vallone, Sr. during Vallone's trip to Israel. He also worked for the Likud Party in Israel.

He worked at two firms, including The MWW Group, before launching his own firm. In 2002, Torossian opened 5W Public Relations. The New York Times called him "brash and aggressively outspoken."

Torossian has also written the book For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations.

Torossian was on Advertising Age's "40 under 40" list in 2006 and PR Week's "40 under 40" list in 2007.

A spokesperson for the New Israel Fund wrote that Torossian has "teamed up" with Pamela Geller and an article in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles found evidence that he "works in some capacity with Geller." Torossian denies that there is any professional relationship between the two.

Torossian's public relations agency, 5WPR, was ranked in 2014 by The New York Observer as the number 35 PR company in New York City. In 2016, the public relations reporting organization J. R. O'Dwyer Company ranked 5W Public Relations at number 18, with revenues at $21.5 million. Initially known for representing celebrities such as Ice Cube, Lil' Kim, Sean Combs, Snoop Dogg, and Pamela Anderson, the company's client base has broadened to include major firms such as Anheuser Busch, Barnes & Noble, Coca-Cola, Evian, McDonalds and Microsoft; religious personalities such as Benny Hinn and John Hagee; and organizations such as the American Bible Society, the Likud Party of Israel, Regent University, and the Trinity Broadcasting Network. 5WPR has also represented such well-known brands as Sparkling Ice, Gray Line Bus Tours, Gummi Bears, and LifeStyles Condoms.

In 2014 5W launched a practice focused in Israeli companies. At that time it already represented 20 Israeli companies and the government of Israel.

Torossian's aggressive PR tactics have won him both praise and criticism. Business Week called him "loud, crass, buzz-obsessed... The Bad Boy of Buzz." Atlantic Monthly writer Jeffrey Goldberg called him "the most disreputable flack in New York", particularly criticizing his representation of what Goldberg called the "lunatic fringe" of right-wing Israeli politics. Gawker's Hamilton Nolan wrote that Torossian "embodies the public's worst ideas about what a PR person is: loud, brash, more flash than substance, dirty, manipulative, amoral, and, in the end, not particularly bright."

On the other hand, clients have cited his "unlimited energy" and his unique approach to public relations as reasons for hiring him. Jameel Spencer, former CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment-affiliated Blue Flame Marketing and Advertising, called Torossian "one of my most trusted business counsels," A The Jerusalem Post profile of him cited his "meteoric rise in the business world today". Another client compared Torossian to former basketball player Dennis Rodman, whom "Everyone hated to play against. But if he was on your team, you loved him". A Forward story said, "His aggressive style may not always be pretty, but the results speak for themselves."

Some commentators see Torossian's style as a sign of the times. He is "one of the New Yorkiest practitioners of this quintessentially New York profession... the consummate scrappy publicist," wrote The New York Times. Businessweek wrote, "Torossian has anointed himself the brash new face of PR ... echoes the raw, unvarnished discourse of the blogosphere... Few seem better equipped to navigate a celebrity-obsessed culture."

Torossian has two children. He lives in Manhattan.