Martin Sorrell ‘probed over company cash for prostitute’
ADVERTISING mogul Sir Martin Sorrell was facing a damning allegation last night that he used money from his former company WPP to pay for a prostitute.
After weeks of speculation, the authoritative Wall Street Journal reported that a probe into his conduct had investigated the claim. It is unclear what the inquiry had found, the paper said.
Sorrell quit as boss of WPP in April after the company began an investigation into his conduct. He strongly denies the claims. Rumours have swirled about what impropriety Sorrell
‘It’s turned out to be a very murky business’
was being accused of since news of the probe broke in early April.
It is an astonishing downfall for the man who founded WPP in 1985 and bestrode the ad industry like a colossus, earning, at his peak, more than £70 million in one year.
The Mail on Sunday understands the allegation concerns the spending of several hundred pounds on a prostitute in Mayfair one evening last June.
The whistleblower is thought to be a disgruntled chauffeur who lost his job.
Sir Martin is bound by terms of a confidentiality agreement he signed when he left WPP.
He strenuously denies the allegations, which have been circulating in the City for several weeks. WPP had said it was investigating its former chief executive over an allegation of ‘personal misconduct’.
Sorrell denies both sleeping with a prostitute and misusing company funds.
His spokesman said: ‘He signed a non-disclosure agreement when he stepped down, which precludes him discussing the circumstance surrounding his departure. He has rigidly adhered to this obligation and will continue to do so. ‘As regards the allegations which have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Sir Martin strenuously denies them.’ A friend added: ‘It has turned out to be a very murky, unpleasant business. He has no complaint about there being an investigation if there needed to be one, but he felt it was badly conducted.
‘He doesn’t want to sit down at the same table with those people on the board again.’
Sorrell has been told there is no written dossier about his behaviour but only a verbal report delivered to the board by US law firm Wilmer Hale.
The company declined to say what its investigation had involved when Sorrell stepped down on April 14, walking away with £20 million in share options.