Mark Read's successor faces the toughest job in advertising – here's why

New Delhi: WPP, the world’s largest advertising holding company by workforce, has announced that CEO Mark Read will retire from his role and the Board at the end of 2025.

The formal succession process is now underway, with the Board initiating a global search for his successor, setting off speculation about who will lead the £11 billion group into its next chapter.

Read, who took over as CEO in 2018 following Martin Sorrell’s dramatic exit, is widely credited with stabilising the company during a volatile period. Over seven years, he led deep structural reform, unified fragmented agency brands, steered the business through the pandemic, and repositioned WPP as a technology- and data-driven player in the modern marketing landscape.

Under Read, WPP consolidated agencies such as VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson into the unified VML, launched its AI-led platform WPP Open, and created WPP Media—a restructured media powerhouse bringing together GroupM’s capabilities across media buying, data, and performance.

Yet challenges remain. Clients are increasingly shifting budgets toward in-house teams, boutique consultancies, and performance-led platforms. And with global advertising now at a structural inflection point—driven by AI automation, platform dominance, and content saturation—the next CEO will inherit more than just a sprawling organisation. They’ll be tasked with redefining what a holding company should look like in a post-digital, AI-native world.

While a few internal leaders are considered strong contenders, industry observers suggest WPP may follow the Publicis Groupe playbook by bringing in an external transformation leader—possibly from consulting (Accenture, Deloitte) or tech (Google, Amazon)—to fast-track reinvention and restore market momentum.

A full plate for the incoming CEO

The next leader of WPP will face a formidable agenda:

• Reignite organic growth, especially across creative and customer experience portfolios
  
  
• Scale AI deployment without eroding creative culture or agency economics
  
  
• Modernise internal culture to attract and retain next-gen talent
  
  
• Clarify WPP’s identity—is it a creative-tech company, a transformation partner, or something else entirely?
  
  
• Navigate platform partnerships while avoiding disintermediation
  
  
• Expand leadership in Asia-Pacific, where retail media, influencer ecosystems, and e-commerce are booming
  
  
• Reassure investors, who are watching rivals pull ahead on both growth and innovation
  
  

The advertising world is no longer defined by Mad Men or the digital disruption of the 2010s. Today, the battleground is attention, agility, data ownership, and creative conviction.

Mark Read brought stability after a period of upheaval. Now, WPP needs a builder of tomorrow—someone who combines bold vision with operational precision. Someone who can lead with empathy and decisiveness in an era where marketing is defined less by taglines and more by technology, trust, and transformation.

The global industry will be watching. So will shareholders. What happens next at WPP may determine the future of the holding company model itself.