WPP taps Microsoft executive Cindy Rose to rebuild ad group

Britain's WPP named board member Cindy Rose as its new chief executive on Thursday, tasking the senior Microsoft executive with leading its recovery a day after a major profit warning showed the scale of the challenge at the ad group.

Rose has been on the board since 2019 and will take over from outgoing CEO Mark Read on Sept. 1, the company said, with Read departing four months earlier than expected.

Rose has spent the last nine years in senior leadership positions at Microsoft, where she rose to Chief Operating Officer, Global Enterprise after formerly being head of its UK business. Prior to that she worked at Vodafone and Virgin Media.


WPP Chairman Philip Jansen said she had supported the digital transformation of large enterprises around the world - including embracing artificial intelligence to create new business models and revenue streams.

"Her expertise in this landscape will be hugely valuable to WPP as the industry navigates fundamental changes and macroeconomic uncertainty," he said.

Rose will take on a business that is reeling from a sharp downturn in client spend and as it grapples with the transformational impact that AI is having on the industry.

It slashed its profit guidance on Wednesday after some big clients left, others cut spending and new business dried up in June, sending its shares down 19%.

WPP lost its crown as the world's biggest ad group to France's Publicis last year after it struggled to grow under Read.

It has been hampered by notable client losses, its greater exposure to China than rivals and the threat posed by AI, which gives clients the tools to create and manage more of their own marketing campaigns.

Rose, who described herself as a "client and partner" to WPP in her former roles, was positive on the opportunities ahead.

"We have and continue to build market-leading AI capabilities, alongside an unrivalled reputation for creative excellence and a preeminent client list," she said.