WPP names new chief executive officer
Cindy Rose
WPP has named its new chief executive officer, who will succeed outgoing boss Mark Read in September.
Cindy Rose, who has been on WPP’s board as a non-executive director since 2019, will lead the holdco from September 1. She will be based in both London and New York.
She joins from Microsoft, where she has spent the past nine years in senior leadership roles including president of Western Europe and CEO of Microsoft UK. She is currently chief operating officer, global enterprise.
She has also held roles including MD of the UK consumer business at Vodafone and an executive director position at Virgin Media. She also previously spent 15 years with The Walt Disney Company.
Cindy Rose
“WPP is a company I know and love — not only from my six years on the board but as a client and partner for many years before that — and I couldn’t be happier or more excited to be appointed as CEO. I began my career in the creative industries and this feels like coming home,” she said in a release.
“There are so many opportunities ahead for WPP. We have and continue to build market-leading AI capabilities, alongside an unrivalled reputation for creative excellence and a preeminent client list. WPP has the most brilliant, talented, creative people and I can’t wait to write the company’s next chapter together.”
She thanked Read for his contributions, and said she looks forward to working with him to ensure a smooth transition.
In June, he announced he would hand over the reins, after a three-decade career with the holdco. He served as CEO for seven years, having replaced Sir Martin Sorrell after his abrupt resignation.
Read will work with Rose through to the end of the year to support the transition.
“Having worked closely with Cindy for the last six years, I am delighted to see her appointed as CEO of WPP. From her time on the board, she has real insight into our business and knows many of our clients, people and partners around the world,” Read said of his successor.
“She brings deep experience of technology and AI and its transformational impact on business, and has successfully run large global organisations with talent at their core. After seven years as CEO, I know that I am leaving WPP in excellent hands.”
Rose’s appointment follows a thorough selection process that considered both internal and external candidates, according to WPP’s chair, Philip Jansen.
“As an existing Board member she understands our business and the needs of our clients, and we look forward to working with her in her new role as CEO,” he said.
He described Rose as an “outstanding and inspirational business leader”.
“Cindy has supported the digital transformation of large enterprises around the world — including embracing AI to create new customer experiences, business models and revenue streams. Her expertise in this landscape will be hugely valuable to WPP as the industry navigates fundamental changes and macroeconomic uncertainty.”
Mark Read
Jansen also thanked Read again: “As he hands over to Cindy, I would like to reiterate my sincere thanks to Mark for his tireless commitment during more than 30 years with WPP and in particular the progress he has made to modernise, simplify and transform the company over the last seven years as CEO. On behalf of the board and the company as a whole I wish him all the very best for the future.”
Part of the simplification Jansen refers to is the consolidations made across WPP’s network in recent years.
In 2023, WPP announced the merger of its creative agencies VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson, bringing the VML name out of retirement. Shortly after, it revealed plans to merge its communication agencies Hill & Knowlton and BCW, to form Burson. The name also returned to the WPP stable after retiring in early 2018 when it was merged with Cohn & Wolfe.
In late 2024, it also wholly acquired T&Pm, which was born out of a partnership between The&Partnership and mSix&Partners. T&Pm has gone heavy on AI, and makes extensive use of WPP Open, the holdco’s AI operating system.
Most recently, WPP retired the GroupM brand and introduced WPP Media, a consolidated version of the media arm. WPP’s media agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker, and Essencemediacom continue as dedicated brands within WPP Media, which also has an integrated media, data, and production offering.
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