Began working for his father's New York ad agency in the early '80s—and was fired shortly thereafter
Returned in 1984, emerged as CEO in 1989 and then bought out his father
Did advertising work for the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign
Broke ground in 1994 with an Ikea spot featuring gay shoppers
Deutsch Inc
won Adweek magazine's Agency of the Year award in 1998, '99, 2001 and '02
Has authored two books: Often Wrong, Never in Doubt: Unleash the Business Rebel Within (cowritten with Peter Knobler in 2005); and The Big Idea: How to Make Your Entrepreneurial Dreams Come True, From the Aha Moment to Your First Million (cowritten with Catherine Whitney in 2008)
Hosted Big Idea With Donny Deutsch, a CNBC talk show featuring interviews with successful businesspeople, from 2004 to 2008
Serves on the board of directors for the Michael J