Front-runner to lead WPP is already making a mark

LONDON: As WPP Plc closes in on appointing a successor to its long-time former CEO and founder Martin Sorrell, one man stands as the front-runner: Mark Read ( pic).

Read, Sorrell’s former strategy and digital chief, is the favoured candidate internally to run the world’s largest advertising group. There’s growing confidence that he will get the role after a drawn-out process that’s already lasted four months, according to a dozen WPP executives, who asked not to be named discussing a company matter.

Ousted in April, Sorrell built WPP into a global powerhouse from a wire shopping basket maker, became the doyen of the industry and a prominent voice on global trade, appearing regularly on TV and at conferences including the World Economic Forum. Read would be a more operational choice for the board, someone who doesn’t seek the limelight, but who understands the complexities of the business and can act to address its difficulties because he already has an intimate understanding of WPP.

The delay in selecting a successor to Sorrell comes at a critical time for WPP, which has lost a third of its market value over the past 18 months as major clients like consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble Co. spend less on marketing and internet giants Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc’s Google threaten to cut out the agency middlemen. WPP reports half-year financial results on Sept 4 and is likely to make an announcement about Sorrell’s permanent replacement at some point in that month, according to a person familiar with the matter. The longer the appointment takes, the more investors may fret about the lack of permanent leadership to steer the company through the industry’s major shift.

Unilever’s chief marketing officer Keith Weed, Dentsu Aegis CEO Jerry Buhlmann, IBM executive David Kenny and Tim Armstrong, the CEO of Verizon Communications Inc subsidiary Oath, have all been mentioned as potential external candidates challenging Read.