WPP CEO Mark Read is to leave the advertising giant at the end of the year.
Read has spent more than 30 years working at WPP and almost seven years as CEO.
In a statement announcing his departure, WPP said that Read “has decided that the time is right for him to hand over to a new leader and the search for a successor is underway.”
His departure comes as the advertising industry grapples with the disruption caused by the rise of artificial intelligence.
Earlier this month, Facebook and Instagram owner Meta said it would start helping advertisers fully create and target campaigns using AI tools, including images, video and text.
WPP has pledged to spend £300m this year on WPP Open, its AI-driven operating system that it has been building for the past four years.
WPP has operations in marketing, public relations and media investment and employs more than 100,000 people, 12,000 of them in the UK.
Philip Jansen, Chair of WPP, said: “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.”
Read said: “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.”
James Harding to deliver Edinburgh TV Festival’s MacTaggart Lecture
James Harding, the Editor-in-Chief of The Observer and founder of Tortoise Media, is to deliver this year’s The James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture, the flagship address of the Edinburgh TV Festival.
 16x9.png)
Disney and ITV strike streaming agreement
The Walt Disney Company and ITV have unveiled a first-of-its-kind initiative to carry a selection of shows from each other’s UK streaming services in a bid to attract new audiences.
IBC2025 Conference to tackle M&E industry’s business-critical challenges
Running across three days, from 12-15 September, the IBC2025 Conference is set to welcome visionary speakers, industry leaders and innovators to tackle some of the biggest talking points across the media and entertainment industry.
UKTV Chief Creative Officer Richard Watsham to depart
Richard Watsham, Chief Creative Officer at UKTV and Global Director of Acquisitions for BBC Studios/UKTV, is stepping down from his roles in September after a 14-year tenure in the business.
IBC x Google Cloud Hackfest Dry-run Lights Up London and Dublin
The IBC x Google Cloud Hackfest Supported by Formula E kicked off in London Friday July 4 with a stellar cast of ITV, Sky, Channel 4 and RTE engineer teams, supported by Google coaches.
.jpg)
