WPP

WPP’s original holding company was incorporated and registered in England and Wales in 1971, and its shares have traded on the London Stock Exchange since 1971; until 1985 it was a manufacturer and distributor of wire and plastic products, and that original business was later retained as a manufacturing division operating through subsidiaries of Wire and Plastic Products Limited.⁠[1][1][1][1]

In 1985, new investors acquired a significant interest in the company and changed its strategic direction from wire and plastics manufacturing to multinational communications services. In 1986, Martin Sorrell joined WPP as a director and became group chief executive the same year. The company subsequently grew both organically and through acquisitions.⁠[1][1][1]

In 1987, WPP acquired the advertising group JWT Group, Inc. (J. Walter Thompson), and in 1989 it acquired The Ogilvy Group, Inc. WPP lists these two deals among its most significant acquisitions.⁠[1][2]

Between 2000 and 2005, WPP acquired Young & Rubicam Inc. (2000), Tempus Group plc (2001), Cordiant Communications Group plc (2003) and Grey Global Group, Inc. (March 2005). After the acquisition, Grey’s public relations firm GCI Group consolidated its service offering with Cohn & Wolfe.⁠[1][1]

On or about October 25, 2005, the original holding company, originally named WPP Group plc and later known as WPP 2005 Limited, completed a reorganization of its capital and corporate structure through a scheme of arrangement, forming a new listed parent company.⁠[1][1]

WPP acquired the digital advertising company 24/7 Real Media (later renamed Xaxis) in 2007, the market research company Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) in 2008 and the digital agency AKQA in 2012. Mark Read led WPP’s expansion into technology, including the acquisition of 24/7 Real Media.⁠[2][2]

WPP 2012 plc was incorporated in Jersey on October 25, 2012; on January 2, 2013, under a scheme of arrangement sanctioned by the Royal Court of Jersey, this Jersey-incorporated, United Kingdom tax-resident company became the new parent company of the WPP Group and adopted the name WPP plc.⁠[3][3]

On April 3, 2018, WPP’s board announced that it had appointed independent counsel to investigate an allegation of personal misconduct against chief executive Martin Sorrell, stating that the amounts involved were not material to the company. On April 14, WPP announced that Sorrell had stepped down as chief executive with immediate effect and that the investigation had concluded; chairman Roberto Quarta became executive chairman until a new chief executive was appointed, and Mark Read and Andrew Scott were named joint chief operating officers. Sorrell said he was sad to leave WPP after 33 years but believed stepping down was in the best interests of the business.⁠[4][4][5][5][5][5][5][5]

On September 3, 2018, Mark Read, who first joined WPP in 1989, became an executive director and chief executive officer. That year WPP completed the merger of VML and Y&R into VMLY&R and of Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe into Burson Cohn & Wolfe, and began merging Wunderman and J. Walter Thompson to create Wunderman Thompson.⁠[2][2][2][2]

On July 12, 2019, WPP announced the proposed sale of 60% of its data and market research business Kantar to Bain Capital Private Equity, valuing Kantar at about $4.0 billion, with WPP retaining a 40% stake; WPP expected after-tax proceeds of about $3.1 billion, of which about $1.2 billion would be returned to shareholders and the remainder used to reduce debt.⁠[6][6][6][6][6]

In 2023, WPP sold a portion of its ownership of FGS Global to KKR; in 2024, WPP disposed of FGS Global, recording a gain on disposal of £275 million.⁠[3][3]

In January 2024, WPP announced the merger of its public relations firms BCW and Hill & Knowlton; the merger formally completed on July 1, 2024, with the combined firm named Burson.⁠[3]

In April 2025, WPP acquired all the shares of the data collaboration platform InfoSum (Cognitive Logic Inc.). In May that year, WPP’s global media company GroupM was renamed WPP Media, with its agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker and EssenceMediacom retained as brands. On July 1, 2025, Grey formally merged into Ogilvy.⁠[3][3][3][3]

On June 9, 2025, WPP announced that Mark Read, who had been with the company for more than 30 years, including seven as chief executive, would retire from the board and as chief executive on December 31, 2025, and that the search for a successor was underway.⁠[7][7][7]

On July 10, 2025, WPP announced the appointment of Cindy Rose as chief executive officer, effective September 1, 2025, with Mark Read stepping down on the same date and supporting the transition until year-end. Rose had been a non-executive director on the WPP board since 2019; she had spent nine years at MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft is a technology company founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 and headquartered in Redmond, Washington, with businesses spanning Windows, Microsoft 365, Azure, enterprise software, artificial intelligence, gaming and devices.Open the full entry, where she was chief operating officer, global enterprise, and had previously been president of Microsoft Western Europe and CEO of Microsoft UK, and she had also worked at Vodafone, Virgin Media and The Walt Disney Company.⁠[8][8][8][8][8][8]

On February 26, 2026, WPP announced Elevate28, a multi-year strategic plan to transition from a holding company structure to a single company, streamlined into four operating units, WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production and WPP Enterprise Solutions, across four regions, North America, Latin America, EMEA and APAC, all connected by its agentic marketing platform WPP Open; the plan aims to stabilize the business in 2026, return to organic growth in 2027 and deliver £500 million of gross annualized cost savings. Cindy Rose said the company’s recent underperformance had been driven by excessive organizational complexity, the lack of an integrated operating model and inconsistent strategic execution.⁠[9][9][9][9][9][9][9]

In 2025, WPP’s revenue was £13,550 million, down 8.1% on a reported basis and 3.6% like-for-like; revenue less pass-through costs was £10,176 million, down 5.4% like-for-like; reported operating profit was £382 million and the headline operating profit margin was 13.0%. At December 31, 2025, the group, excluding associates, had 98,655 employees.⁠[9][9][9][3]

In the first half of 2026, WPP’s revenue was £6,373 million, down 4.4% on a reported basis and 3.2% like-for-like; revenue less pass-through costs was £4,745 million, down 4.7% like-for-like, including a 2.8% like-for-like decline in the second quarter. Cindy Rose said the first phase of Elevate28, “Stabilise,” was on track and that the building blocks of the new organizational structure had been put in place in the first half.⁠[10][10][10][10]

On September 23, 2026, WPP announced that chief financial officer and executive director Joanne Wilson would step down to become chief financial officer of Diageo; she will remain in her role until a successor is appointed, and the board has begun a formal search.⁠[11][11][11]

WPP plc is a public limited company incorporated in Jersey, with its executive office at Sea Containers in London and a presence in more than 100 countries; each American Depositary Share traded on the New York Stock Exchange represents five ordinary shares. As of its 2025 annual report, its chair is Philip Jansen.⁠[3][3][3][3][3]

Since February 2026, WPP’s business has been organized into four operating units: WPP Media brings together AI-driven media, data and partnership capabilities; WPP Production, launched in February 2026, unifies the group’s content production; WPP Enterprise Solutions brings together customer experience, commerce, CRM and technology and data platforms; and WPP Creative is home to agency brands including VML, Ogilvy, Burson, AKQA, Landor and Design Bridge and Partners.⁠[3][3][3][3][12]

WPP: Official website: https://www.wpp.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[11]

X: Public account: https://x.com/WPP (opens in a new window)⁠[13]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wpp (opens in a new window)⁠[13]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/wpp (opens in a new window)⁠[13]