- WPP CEO Mark Read will retire at the top of December after seven years at the helm of the world’s largest ad-holding group, according to an announcement posted by the corporate’s board Monday.
- Read will work with the board to discover a successor, the manager said on his LinkedIn. He called out WPP’s ongoing work around data and artificial intelligence-driven transformation while acknowledging that the present business environment is “challenging.”
- Whoever takes over the CEO spot has a tall order to fill. WPP has contended with quite a few painful client losses and spending pullbacks and is within the midst of significantly overhauling a few of its most significant assets, including WPP Media, formerly GroupM.
Read took on the mantle as CEO of WPP seven years ago after the contentious departure of Martin Sorrell, an executive who, over the course of a long time, shaped what was once a wire basket company right into a sprawling promoting empire. As the successor to an industry titan, Read’s tenure has not been short on incident, with challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, periods of worldwide unrest, inflation and the appearance of generative AI. Announcing his departure, the agency chief touted his efforts to make AI a central piece of WPP, including through the broader implementation of the Open operating system this yr.
“The progress our teams have made has been superb and once I ‘demo’ WPP Open to our clients they’re at all times amazed by what it could do,” Read, who spent greater than 30 years at WPP in total, wrote in his LinkedIn note.
Still, WPP’s performance has lagged compared to peers, dragged down by a raft of enormous client losses and sharper spending pullbacks in markets like China. Revenue less pass-through costs declined 2.7% on a like-for-like basis to 2.48 billion kilos, or about $3.2 billion, in Q1 2025. Discussing the quarterly results earlier this spring, Read cautioned that tariffs could further impact brands’ appetites for promoting.
In an attempt to turn its fortunes around, WPP has enacted some dramatic moves of late. In April, it acquired data collaboration platform InfoSum to further evolve its capabilities beyond legacy identity solutions built on technology like cookies. Earlier this month, it formally rebranded GroupM, its media investment arm, to WPP Media. The change is anticipated to impact 40% to 45% of the unit’s workforce. Paramount, a longtime client, suddenly cut ties with the group last week amid plans for a merger with Skydance Media, Deadline reported, one other blow to a business that’s trying to turn a brand new leaf. Some of Read’s policies have also proven controversial with employees, equivalent to a 4 day return-to-office plan that had a haphazard rollout earlier this yr.
For some analysts, Read stepping down is an expected consequence after years of transformation work failed to return the group to consistent levels of growth. The announcement comes per week out from Cannes Lions, a world gathering that effectively acts because the Oscars for promoting.
“The news is unsurprising due to WPP’s lackluster business and stock performance lately alongside the installation of a brand new Board Chairman at the start of this yr,” said Brian Wieser of Madison and Wall in a note across the news. “Presumably the delay of the transition of Board Chair role by a yr was responsible for prolonging this consequence.”
WPP maintains what Wieser described as a “deep bench” of talent that would succeed Read, and should draw on outside candidates, but still needs to iron out a more concrete strategic direction.
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