Martin Sorrell steps down as CEO of ad giant WPP
LONDON: Martin Sorrell spent the last three decades building an obscure maker of wire baskets into a global advertising powerhouse, earning millions and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II along the way. His downfall was far swifter.
Sorrell, 73, said late on Saturday that he would resign from his position as chief executive office of WPP Plc with immediate effect. His departure followed allegations of personal misconduct and misuse of company assets and comes days before the board was set to publish the findings of their investigation.
Sorrell has denied any wrongdoing.
The WPP chief was the de facto elder statesman of the ad industry and the figurehead of corporate Britain, appearing regularly in public to discuss issues from Brexit to Donald Trump’s trade wars to the rise of Facebook Inc. and Google. He also courted controversy with his pugnacious manner and inflated pay package, particularly at a time when WPP’S revenue stalled.
In a statement to WPP employees, Sorrell said the current disruption was putting “too much unnecessary pressure on the business” and that in the interest of the company and clients it was “best for me to step aside.”
“As a founder, I can say that WPP is not just a matter of life or death, it was, is and will be more important than that,” Sorrell said in the statement late Saturday. “Good fortune and Godspeed to all of you.”
The bittersweet taste of his departure was apparent in his farewell note, which laid out in great detail the long journey of WPP from humble beginnings to an empire of more than 400 agencies across 112 countries, counting 200,000 employees.
He said he’d spent every day of the last 33 years thinking about the future of the company, which he built into the world’s largest and most successful advertising firms.
Sorrell’s fall from grace took less than a month after WPP announced April 3 that it was investigating the allegations. Chairman Roberto Quarta now becomes executive chairman until the appointment of a new CEO, WPP said in a statement late Saturday.
Mark Read, who heads WPP agency Wunderman, and Andrew Scott, WPP’S corporate development director, become joint chief operating officers.
The resignation preempts what could have been an inglorious departure. Sorrell was set to join the rest of the board early next week for scheduled meetings ahead of the company’s quarterly results, making a quick resolution of the probe almost inevitable.
The investigation into Sorrell has now concluded, WPP said, reiterating that the amounts weren’t material.
“It’s favorable for WPP that the issue was resolved fast enough that it wouldn’t have become a distraction, and the interim leadership choice looks like a positive move as well,” said Brian Wieser, a media analyst at Pivotal Research LLC, by email. “However, there will be great interest in resolving the fulltime CEO role as soon as possible.”