Ex-GroupM chief sues WPP, alleges GroupM turned client rebates into secret profit centre
Richard Foster claims WPP’s media arm pocketed undisclosed rebates from media owners, ignored whistleblower concerns, and fired him after he flagged the practice.
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A former senior WPP executive has filed a lawsuit against the advertising giant, accusing it of firing him after he raised alarm over alleged improper kickbacks and opaque trading practices within its media division.
Richard Foster, who spent 17 years at GroupM, the media investment arm of WPP and now known as WPP Media, served as global CEO of Motion Content Group, the division behind popular TV franchises such as Love Island. In his lawsuit, first reported by Business Insider, Foster claims that GroupM routinely leveraged its vast media buying power to extract financial incentives from media owners but failed to pass those savings on to clients.
According to the filing, GroupM allegedly secured “volume-based discounts,” including cash rebates, free ad inventory, and other perks from broadcasters and publishers. Foster claims these benefits were not always disclosed to clients and were instead retained by WPP to inflate profits.
“The scale of this purchasing power enabled GroupM to leverage client spend to force ad-supported media platforms to give discounts, which rather than being passed back to clients, became a non-disclosed profit center,” the lawsuit states.
Foster estimates that between 2019 and 2024, GroupM generated between US$3 billion and US$4 billion from rebate-driven deals, of which up to US$2 billion was allegedly kept by the company. The suit, however, provides no direct documentation to substantiate the figure.
While such practices are not illegal per se, they could amount to breaches of client contracts if proven. The issue echoes long-standing concerns within the advertising industry: a 2016 report by the Association of National Advertisers and K2 Intelligence described non-transparent trading, rebates, and kickbacks as “pervasive” across U.S. media buying operations.
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Foster, according to a Bandt report, alleges that when he raised these concerns with top WPP and GroupM executives, including Nicola McCormick, WPP’s general counsel for media, his warnings were dismissed. Instead of investigating, the company allegedly retaliated by firing him. He is seeking more than US$100 million in damages for wrongful termination, retaliation, and whistleblower protection violations.
In a statement, a WPP Media spokesperson reportedly told media, “The company is aware of a lawsuit in the New York State Court filed by a former employee who was let go in a recent organisational restructuring. The court has not yet made any findings in relation to the allegations and we will defend them vigorously.”
The complaint details a series of meetings in late 2024, during which Foster says he was asked by newly appointed WPP Media CEO Brian Lesser for an honest assessment of GroupM’s operations. Foster claims he submitted a 35-page report that not only proposed a new WPP Entertainment division but also outlined his concerns over rebate practices and “purchase risk” media deals, arrangements where agencies buy large chunks of inventory upfront and resell it to clients at a profit.
Foster alleges that many large advertisers opposed these deals, arguing they benefited the agency more than clients. The suit claims Lesser initially acknowledged potential legal risks but later asked Foster to provide a “sanitised” version of the report with critical sections removed. Lesser allegedly shared the original version with Mark Patterson, GroupM’s global president of markets and business operations, who oversaw trading activities. Shortly after, a restructure was announced that placed Foster’s division under Patterson’s purview. Foster says he was then excluded from meetings and decision-making processes before being terminated in July.
“At no point did WPP or WPP Media conduct a formal review or investigation into Foster’s reports, as required under their compliance policies and whistleblower protection laws,” the suit claims.
WPP has reportedly dismissed the claims, maintaining that Foster’s departure was part of a broader organisational restructuring. The case, now before the New York State Court, could reignite scrutiny over longstanding questions about transparency in global media buying practices.
