Source: Adweek
Following the news that the board of WPP is investigating claims of “personal misconduct” and possible misuse of company assets against CEO Sir Martin Sorrell, investors could be once again mulling who could take over the reigns of the world’s largest advertising holding company, Adweek writes.
“It’s a little difficult because we don’t know what the specific allegations are,” Pivotal Research Group senior analyst Brian Wieser told Adweek. “What I think investors will focus on is some broader implications around succession.”
According to Wieser, the investigation would “reinforce a narrative around who should be running WPP,” but he did not venture a guess as to who might take over as CEO.
“While there’s no shortage of strong candidates, none have the financial acumen and insights of the current CEO,” said Greg Paull, principal at global consultancy R3, who added that possible replacements for Sorell could be Mark Read, global CEO of Wunderman, or Eric Salama, chairman and CEO of Kantar.
“Both lead important data-centric businesses that are at the heart of modern marketing … but either of them would need to closely partner with CFO Paul Richardson to come close to matching the current dynamic that Sorrell offers,” Paull said.
