Could Brian Lesser, the architect of WPP Media's reinvention, be the likely successor to Mark Read as WPP CEO?
As WPP braces for a leadership change, all signs point to Brian Lesser as the frontrunner to succeed Mark Read and steer the ad giant into a platform-first future.
ADVERTISEMENT
As WPP begins the search for its next chief executive following the planned year-end departure of Mark Read, one name is drawing both internal attention and external speculation: Brian Lesser.
Lesser, the CEO of WPP Media, is widely seen as the most probable, and perhaps only, candidate with a mandate and momentum strong enough to lead the advertising conglomerate through one of the most transformational periods in its history. While the board, led by newly appointed chair and former BT Group CEO Philip Jansen, has yet to announce a shortlist, industry insiders suggest the decision may already be made in all but name.
One senior media executive familiar with WPP’s internal dynamics said, “He’s the only one building something future-facing at scale," adding, “Brian Lesser is definitely in the big picture.”
Mark Read’s announcement this week ends a six-year tenure as CEO and a three-decade career at WPP, during which he steered the company through a post-Sorrell recovery, numerous acquisitions and divestitures and an increasingly digitized advertising ecosystem. But his departure comes as WPP grapples with a sagging stock price, sliding to a four-year low, and broader headwinds from AI disruption, media fragmentation and commodification and the declining relevance of legacy agency structures.
Since taking over in 2018, Read implemented a series of structural reforms - merging agencies, investing in technology and repositioning WPP as a modern marketing player. He oversaw the launch of WPP Open, an AI-powered platform now used by tens of thousands of employees, and recently folded GroupM into a newly branded, centralized media division - WPP Media, under Lesser’s leadership.
While Read deserves credit for stabilizing WPP, even his supporters admit that a steadier hand is not what the company needs next.
Using an aviation and engineering analogy, an India-based WPP creative agency executive said, “Read was the pilot who landed WPP safely after the turbulence of the Sorrell era. But now the company needs an engineer and possibly a demolition expert. Lesser’s proving he can do both.”
Lesser, a seasoned media executive who previously ran Xandr - AT&T's advertising and analytics unit, and helped establish GroupM as a performance powerhouse, has taken a surgical approach to WPP’s transformation. He is leading a consolidation drive aimed at eliminating redundancy, streamlining teams and embedding AI into every part of the media operation. Insiders say Lesser is less interested in legacy and more focused on making WPP fit for the next decade.
In an internal memo earlier this year, Lesser outlined plans to reshape WPP Media into a unified, tech-first platform. His language was blunt: difficult decisions, overlapping roles and organizational clarity. He had also reportedly framed GroupM’s plans to transition to a ‘single operating model’ and indicated the forthcoming ‘sunsetting’ of ‘agency-specific titles’ across various markets. Layoffs and restructures followed.
Meanwhile fast changes in the creative stable at WPP were underway too with the folding of venerable creative agency Grey into Ogilvy, a sign of the accelerated rationalization across the ad holdco. Since Read merged Y&R and VML in September 2018, the first in a long line of agency consolidations, WPP has seemed locked in a state of constant reinvention.
Lesser can "build WPP’s future as a AI-powered, performance-driven adtech company" said a media executive.
That approach is resonating at a time when global peers are also evolving. Publicis Groupe has overtaken WPP in revenue and now positions itself as a data-first consultancy, while Omnicom and Interpublic are reportedly exploring a merger to consolidate market share. In contrast, WPP’s sprawling legacy operations face both regulatory scrutiny and internal friction.
In India, a market central to WPP’s global footprint, the company is navigating an ongoing antitrust investigation into media trading practices. Although WPP has not publicly responded, the probe has added to pressures in a market where it still dominates but now faces growing competition from independent and digital-native rivals.
Meanwhile, global clients are less interested in agency lineage and more focused on delivery. “Clients don’t want creative storytelling decks anymore,” said an executive at a major global advertiser. “They want platforms that produce results.”
Lesser’s background in both media and technology, with stints at GroupM North America, Xandr, and now WPP Media, positions him uniquely to lead WPP’s transition from a traditional agency network to a platform-driven marketing engine. His fluency in AI, performance marketing and enterprise technology could help WPP compete with Silicon Valley heavyweights as much as Madison Avenue incumbents.
And while Read poured over £300 million into AI initiatives like WPP Open, recently acquired a data collaboration platform - InfoSum, and completed high-profile divestitures such as the sale of FGS Global to KKR, the next phase requires investments and execution.
“Brian Lesser is already acting like the CEO WPP needs,” said one senior consultant. “The only question is whether the board is ready to catch up to its own future.”
With Read slated to stay on until December and the formal search underway, WPP has a narrowing window to signal stability and a clear direction.
If the company wants to survive the AI wave, win back blue-chip clients and stay ahead of its rivals, observers say the choice is simple: make Brian Lesser CEO. Anything else would be a retreat into the past.
Unlike the abrupt and dramatic departure of Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP is steering the narrative this time. Announcing Read’s December-due exit just a week ahead of Cannes Lions may not be ideal, but the move helps preempt leadership speculation from eclipsing its planned showcase of WPP Media and AI on the Croisette. Still, all eyes, and the festival buzz, are likely to center on Brian Lesser.
