Come September, WPP’s newly named chief govt (CEO), Cindy Rose, will formally take the helm.
The Microsoft govt will take the reins from WPP veteran Mark Learn, who’s stepping down after seven years as boss.
Rose inherits a enterprise going through intense strain to return to its former glory. Following a rebrand of its media arm, important consumer losses, and sluggish new enterprise, WPP issued a shock revenue warning on Wednesday, July 9. Its shares are at present languishing at a 16-year low after dropping its crown to French rival Publicis Groupe because the world’s largest advert community by revenues.
Rose is at present chief working officer (COO) for international enterprise at Microsoft, guiding giant companies by means of digital and AI-driven enterprise transformations.
Right here’s what we find out about her up to now, and the way her appointment has already made historical past.
1. Her Resume is Model and Tech Heavy
Rose has spent three a long time straddling the media, telecoms, and tech sectors.
In her most up-to-date position as COO, international enterprises for Microsoft, she’s overseen digital transformation initiatives for a few of the world’s greatest firms, serving to shoppers embed cloud, knowledge, and AI into their operations.
She’s additionally helped roll out Microsoft’s AI instruments, equivalent to Copilot, throughout sectors. This places her in a powerful place to assist WPP navigate its personal mission to grow to be an AI-centric firm, powered by its WPP Open platform.
Earlier than becoming a member of Microsoft in 2016, she ran Vodafone U.Ok.’s client enterprise. She spent 4 years at Virgin Media earlier than that, managing its digital leisure providing.
Previous to Virgin, Rose spent over a decade at Disney, rising to senior vp and main the leisure large’s interactive media enterprise throughout Europe.
Rose obtained an Order of the British Empire (OBE) from Queen Elizabeth II in 2019 for her providers to U.Ok. tech.
2. She Has Sat on WPP’s Board
Rose has been a WPP board member since 2019.
Per WPP’s 2024 annual report, she was paid $176,000 (£129,000) in compensation for this non-exec position final 12 months.
She attended six board conferences, seven audit committee conferences, and 4 governance conferences in that interval. She was additionally WPP’s designated non-executive director for its U.Ok. Workforce Advisory Panel, repeatedly attending conferences and engagements with workers.
3. She’s The First Lady To Lead a Main Advert Holding Firm
WPP has solely had two former CEOs: Learn, and Sir Martin Sorrell, who based the enterprise in 1985 and led it till 2018.
Rose, an exterior candidate who was reportedly towards a number of WPP insiders for the position, won’t solely be the primary lady to steer WPP, she may even deliver some much-needed gender range to the chief management ranks of the Large Six holding firms.
Omnicom, Publicis Groupe, IPG, Dentsu, and Havas are all led by males, and none have ever employed a lady as CEO at a gaggle degree.
Wendy Clark grew to become the primary lady to steer a serious company community when she was appointed international CEO of Dentsu Worldwide in 2020, reporting into then Dentsu Group CEO and president, Toshihiro Yamamoto.
4. She Might be Based mostly in London and New York
Rose holds twin U.S. and U.Ok. citizenship and will probably be based mostly in New York and London, the place WPP is listed.
WPP has been underperforming in U.S., the place it generates 40% of its revenues. It’s set to grow to be much more of a dominant advert market following IPG’s acquisition of Omnicom, scheduled for later this 12 months.
Firstly of 2025, Learn stated he had “checked out” switching WPP’s main itemizing to New York. .
“It’s one thing we hold a watching eye on,” the outgoing CEO advised the FT in January. He stated WPP had no plans to take action in the meanwhile, however identified “different CEOs who’ve moved their itemizing to the U.S. have discovered a constructive expertise.”
5. She Didn’t Set Out to Work in Promoting
Rose, 59, graduated from Columbia College with a level in Political Science and earned her Juris Physician from New York Legislation College in 1990.
She started her profession as a company lawyer and skilled as a U.Ok. solicitor at Allen & Overy.
6. What She’s Stated About Her Plan for WPP
In a press release asserting her appointment, Rose stated: “WPP is an organization I do know and love—not solely from my six years on the board, however as a consumer and companion for a few years earlier than that—and I couldn’t be happier or extra excited to be appointed as CEO. I started my profession within the inventive industries, and this seems like coming residence.
“There are such a lot of alternatives forward for WPP. We have now and proceed to construct market-leading AI capabilities, alongside an unequalled popularity for inventive excellence and a preeminent consumer checklist. WPP has probably the most good, gifted, inventive individuals, and I can’t wait to jot down the corporate’s subsequent chapter collectively.
“I’m grateful to Mark for his many contributions to the enterprise through the years, and I stay up for working collectively to make sure a clean handover.”
