Emotive boss Simon Joyce bought agency from ARN Media for one dollar, accounts reveal

Tim Burrowes

February 25, 2026 10:57

Emotive boss Simon Joyce bought agency from ARN Media for one dollar, accounts reveal

Joyce: A dollar well spent

Emotive founder Simon Joyce and his chief operating officer Ben Keep picked up the agency for just one dollar when ARN Media sold it to them last May, newly released accounts reveal.

According to ARN Media’s disclosures for 2025, Joyce and Keep — who founded the agency a decade ago — will pay a further $1.5m depending on the agency’s performance.

The accounts show that in 2024, Emotive had revenue of $10.8m and delivered a profit before tax of $72,000. The 2025 accounts only covered the first five months that ARN was still a shareholder, and showed the agency ran at a loss for that period, although that is not uncommon during the slow trading months at the start of the year.

In June 2025, founding client Optus announced that it was switching its media and creative away from Emotive, M+C Saatchi and UM, and into Accenture Song.

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.