WPP CEO Sorrell Quits After Three Decades at Top of Ad World

• April 14 2018
• Joe Mayes

WPP Plc Chief Executive Officer Martin Sorrell is resigning after 33 years, following allegations of personal misconduct and misuse of company assets, marking an abrupt end to his reign at the top of the advertising industry.

WPP Plc Chief Executive Officer Martin Sorrell is resigning after 33 years, following allegations of personal misconduct and misuse of company assets, marking an abrupt end to his reign at the top of the advertising industry.

Sorrell, 73, will step aside immediately, according to a statement late on Saturday by WPP, the world’s largest advertising company. Chairman Roberto Quarta becomes executive chairman until the appointment of a new CEO, while Mark Read, CEO of WPP agency Wunderman, and Andrew Scott, WPP’s corporate development director and COO of Europe, have been appointed as joint chief operating officers.

It took Sorrell decades to build WPP into today’s colossus of more than 400 agencies across 112 countries, starting from a wire shopping basket manufacturer. His fall from grace took less than a month after WPP announced April 3 that it’s investigating Sorrell on accusations of personal misconduct.

The investigation has now concluded and WPP reiterated that the amounts weren’t material. Sorrell had denied the allegations.