Meet the 25 power players who are trying to turn around WPP, the world's biggest ad holding company

Business Wire; WPP; Ruobing Su/Business Insider

• WPP, the largest ad holding company, has struggled to keep up as clients move more money toward digital platforms and consulting firms aggressively pitch their ability to transform businesses.
• CEO Mark Read, who took over from Martin Sorrell in 2018, has been making dramatic changes like agency mergers and C-suite hires.
• These are the 25 key people helping carry out his vision.
• This list is based on conversations with current and former WPP executives and insiders as well as hirings, earnings, and new business announcements from the past 18 months.
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Mark Read, who took over WPP in 2018, has one of the most visible faces and toughest jobs in advertising.

The biggest agency holding company by annual billings, WPP includes some of advertising's most historical agencies like Ogilvy; PR giant Burson Cohn Wolfe; and GroupM, the world's largest ad-buying network. Ford, IBM, and Mondelez are among its top clients.

But WPP, like other traditional advertising companies, has faced harsh headwinds in recent years as marketers move their money to digital platforms dominated by Google, Facebook, and, increasingly, Amazon. WPP's stock dropped by nearly 15% after it reported greater-than-expected losses in the last quarter of 2019 and predicted flat growth for 2020.

WPP's case was exacerbated by the abrupt early 2018 departure of founder and longtime CEO Martin Sorrell amid accusations that he misused company funds. Sorrell has continually denied those accusations.

His successor Read has a radical plan to turn WPP around over the next three years by merging agencies, selling major assets such as research firm Kantar, closing offices, and cutting 3,500 jobs while promoting key executives and hiring 1,000 new staffers by 2021.

These are some of the most powerful people helping drive Read's strategy, listed in alphabetical order. The list is based on conversations with current and former executives, all of whom are known to Business Insider but spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly, as well as WPP staffing, earnings, and new business news from the past 18 months.

The list includes all 15 people that Read picked to be on an executive committee of top people at the company to help inform his strategy. Read formed the committee in 2019, but its membership has not been made public.

A WPP spokesperson declined to comment for this story.