Mark Read’s seven year reign as WPP CEO is coming to an end with the company announcing “Mark has decided that the time is right for him to hand over to a new leader” in a 7am announcement.
Read’s departure has been widely anticipated following the appointment of former BT CEO Philip Jansen as chairman at the start of the year. WPP has been bedevilled by low or no growth for the past two years and is currently undertaking a wide-ranging reorganisation of its media business, once the fuel for it becoming the world’s biggest ad holding company.
Read has admitted that WPP Media (formerly GroupM) has underperformed rival Publicis. Some of his leadership decisions have also been questioned.
Read says: “WPP is an incredible company with over 100,000 talented and creative people, wonderful clients and partners, and an unmatched presence around the world. It has been an immense privilege to serve as its CEO for the past seven years.
“When I took on this role our mission was to build a simpler, stronger business, and put structure and new energy behind our creativity and performance, powered by world-leading technology. I am proud that our teams across the business have delivered that exceptionally well. Our clients today rate us more highly than ever before, we now work with four of the world’s five most valuable companies, and our revenues with our biggest clients have grown consistently.
“Our business starts with creativity, and I was delighted for our teams that last year we were once again named Creative Company of the Year at Cannes Lions. We have also positioned WPP at the forefront of the industry with our investments in AI and, with the full launch of WPP Open this year, we are now leading the way as AI transforms marketing. We have an exceptional leadership team and a secure financial position that allows us to face the future confidently and capture the opportunities ahead.”
Chairman Jansen says: “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Mark for his contributions not only as CEO but throughout his more than 30 years of leadership and service to the Company. During that time Mark has played a central role in transforming the Company into a world leader in modern marketing services, with deep AI, data and technology capabilities, global presence and unrivalled creative talent, setting WPP up well for longer-term success.
“We are pleased that Mark will continue to lead WPP as CEO until the end of the year, remaining focused on the execution of the Company’s growth strategy and supporting a smooth transition to his successor, once appointed.”
Whether or not Read makes it through until the end of the year we’ll have to see. Such protracted exits can have a destabilising effect although stability is the initial aim. WPP faces further challenges in 2025 including the rumoured possibility that it may lose its important Mars media business to Publicis in Mars’ current global ad review.
WPP says it will review internal and external candidates. One of the issues it faces is that it’s a London listed company with the biggest part of its business in the US. The obvious internal candidates – T&P’s Johnny Hornby and Ogilvy Group UK’s James Murphy – are London-based.
There is not a single internal WPP candidate with the chops to run such a large public company, let alone one with the imagination to reinvent and persuasively prattle through this AI-byss.