WPP names new chairman ex-BT CEO Philip Jansen
WPP is to have a new chairman, former BT and Worldpay CEO Philip Jansen (below) who takes over from long-serving Roberto Quarta in January next year. Quarta has been chairman since 2015 and oversaw the messy departure of CEO and founder Sir Martin Sorrell in 2018.
Jansen started in marketing at P&G before moving to Dunlop Slazenger and Telewest. At BT he instituted a £3bn cost-ctting exercise alongside heavy investment in its infrastructure. He is a noted advocate of the transformative ability of AI, which puts him on the same hymn sheet as WPP CEO Mark Read. WPP yesterday announced a new deal with tech giant Nvidia to create generative 3D worlds for clients including Coca-Cola and Ford.
Jansen says: “Technology is changing the face of commerce, media and communications, and I am very excited to join a company at the forefront of this change. I look forward to working with my fellow board members and supporting Mark and his leadership team as they continue to transform WPP for the future.”
CEO Read says: “On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Roberto for his support for the leadership team and his exceptional contribution during more than nine years with WPP. He has helped to steer the company through significant challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic, overseen the restructuring of our portfolio to return WPP to financial stability, and guided the fundamental reshaping of our offer to meet the needs of modern marketing.
“Philip has deep insight into our industry from his marketing background and roles with technology and consumer goods companies, and I am very happy to welcome him to WPP.”
As far as shareholders are concerned the main task of Jansen is to get the WPP share price moving in the right direction. After the trauma of Sorrell’s exit Read steadied the ship but WPP is now valued at £8bn against its £20bn-plus French rival Publicis and even lags fellow struggler America’s Interpublic. Read has been ringing the changes ahead of WPP’s half yearly results on August 8, replacing Christian Juhl as head of media agency arm GroupM with former exec Brian Lesser.
