Leadership
The WPP Board
The Board is collectively responsible for promoting the success of WPP by directing and supervising policy and strategy and is responsible to shareholders for the Group’s financial and operational performance and risk management.
Philip Jansen
Chair
Appointed: 16 September 2024 (Chair from 1 January 2025)
Nationality: British
Skills and experience: With his marketing background and experience leading technology and consumer goods companies, Philip has deep insight into the marketing services industry. Philip is Non-Executive Chairman of Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited and Chairman of XPlor Technologies. He was previously CEO of BT Group from 2019 to 2024 and, before that, the CEO of Worldpay. Earlier roles include CEO and subsequently Chairman of Brakes, as well as COO of Sodexo Group. Philip began his career at Procter & Gamble, before holding Marketing and Commercial Director roles at Dunlop Slazenger and later serving as COO of MyTravel. He was a Non-Executive Director of Travis Perkins for four years and is a Senior Advisor at Bain Capital.
External appointments: Chairman, Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited; Chairman, XPlor Technologies; Trustee, Wellbeing of Women; Senior Advisor, Bain Capital.
Cindy Rose OBE
Group Chief Executive Officer
Appointed: 1 April 2019 (Group Chief Executive Officer from 1 September 2025)
Nationality: British and American
Skills and experience: Cindy has extensive experience as a leader in the technology, telecommunications, media, entertainment, and creative sectors, and she offers deep expertise in digital transformation and global enterprise. Prior to becoming CEO of WPP Cindy held senior executive positions at Microsoft for nine years, most recently as Chief Operating Officer, Global Enterprise. Cindy also served as President of Microsoft Western Europe, and CEO of Microsoft UK. Earlier in her career, she held the roles of Managing Director of the UK consumer division at Vodafone and Executive Director of Digital Entertainment at Virgin Media. She spent 15 years at The Walt Disney Company, culminating as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Disney Interactive Media Group, EMEA. Cindy also served as a Non-Executive Director of the WPP Board from 2019 until her CEO appointment. Cindy is a graduate of Columbia University and New York Law School.
External appointments: Advisory Board Member, Imperial College Business School in London and McLaren.
Joanne Wilson
Chief Financial Officer
Appointed: 19 April 2023 (Chief Financial Officer from 27 April 2023)
Nationality: Irish
Skills and experience: Joanne has extensive experience both in the UK and internationally in a variety of financial and commercial roles. She joined WPP from Britvic, where she was Chief Financial Officer and Chair of the ESG Committee. Prior to this Joanne had a successful career at Tesco where, at the time of leaving, she held the position of Chief Financial Officer of dunnhumby, a global leader in customer data science.Joanne began her career at KPMG, where she qualified as a chartered accountant.
External appointments: Non-Executive Director, Informa plc.
Angela Ahrendts DBE
Senior Independent Director
Non-Executive Director Appointed: 1 July 2020
Nationality: American and British citizenship
Skills and experience: Angela brings expertise as a leader of creative and technology-driven global businesses. From 2014 until 2019, she was Senior Vice President, Retail, at Apple Inc., where she integrated and redesigned the physical and digital global consumer experience. Angela was CEO of Burberry from 2006 to 2014, where she repositioned the brand as a luxury high-growth company and created the Burberry Foundation. Prior to Burberry, Angela was Executive Vice President at Liz Claiborne, Inc. and President of Donna Karan International, Inc. Angela was a member of the UK Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council from 2010 to 2015.
External appointments: Lead Independent Director, Ralph Lauren Corporation; Non-Executive Director, Airbnb, Inc.; Chair of Save the Children International; Non-Executive Director, charity: water; Member of CEO Circle, Imagine; Director, The HOW Institute for Society; Member of the Global Leadership Council of the Oxford University Saïd Business School and BritishAmerican Business International Advisory Board; Senior Operating Adviser, SKKY Partners.
Simon Dingemans
Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 31 January 2022
Nationality: British
Skills and experience: Simon has extensive business, capital markets, technology, corporate finance and governance experience. He is Chairman of Genomics Limited and is also a Non-Executive Director of Vodafone Group plc and Avantor, Inc. He was previously CFO of GlaxoSmithKline plc from 2011 to 2019. Prior to GSK, Simon worked in investment banking for 25 years, firstly at SG Warburg and then Goldman Sachs, where he was Managing Director and Partner. Simon also previously served as Chairman of Calastone limited as well as the Financial Reporting Council.
External appointments: Chairman, Genomics Limited; Non-Executive Director, Vodafone Group Plc; Non-Executive Director, Avantor, Inc.; Trustee, The King’s Trust.
Sandrine Dufour
Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 3 February 2020
Nationality: French
Skills and experience: Sandrine brings substantial financial expertise gained in global companies and strong strategic capability to the Board. She is currently CFO of UCB, a global pharmaceutical company. Previously Sandrine was CFO of Proximus. She held a number of leadership roles at Vivendi in France and the US across its entertainment and telecommunications business, and has an enthusiasm for cultural, technological and business transformation. Sandrine began her career as a financial analyst at BNP and then Credit Agricole in the telecoms sector. She has held other non-executive director roles, most recently at Solocal Group.
External appointments: Chief Financial Officer, UCB.
Tom Ilube CBE
Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 5 October 2020
Nationality: British
Skills and experience: Tom brings a wealth of expertise as a technology entrepreneur and has extensive experience of the UK technology sector. Tom is Chair of The King’s Trust and Chair of LINK. He was Chair of the RFU from 2021 to 2024. Prior to that, he was on the Board of the BBC from 2017 to 2021. Tom is an Honorary Fellow of both Jesus College and St Anne’s College, Oxford and has several honorary doctorates. In 2017 Tom topped the Powerlist ranking of the most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the UK.
External appointments: Chair, The King’s Trust; Chair, LINK; Chair, Iternal Limited; Founder and Chair, African Gifted Foundation; Non-Executive Director, Civic Net Zero Limited.
Keith Weed CBE
Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 1 November 2019
Nationality: British
Skills and experience: Keith has a wealth of experience as a marketing and digital leader, and a deep understanding of the ways in which technology is transforming businesses. Keith was previously Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Unilever, a role that included creating and leading Unilever’s sustainability programme. Keith was named the World’s Most Influential Chief Marketing Officer by Forbes in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and Global Marketer of the Year 2017 by the World Federation of Advertisers. He received The Drum’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame in 2019. Keith is a Non-Executive Director of J Sainsbury plc.
External appointments: Non-Executive Director, J Sainsbury plc and i-Genie; Trustee Director, Business in the Community; Board Trustee, Grange Park Opera; President, Royal Horticultural Society; Board Trustee, Leverhulme Trust; Senior Advisor, Alix Partners; Advisory Board Member McLaren.
Jasmine Whitbread
Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 1 September 2019
Nationality: British and Swiss
Skills and experience: Jasmine’s experience spans marketing, technology, finance, telecommunications, and not-for-profit organisations. Alongside this breadth of perspective she brings knowledge of many of WPP’s client sectors to the Board. Jasmine began her career in marketing in the technology sector, including with Thomson Financial in the US. After completing the Stanford Executive Program, Jasmine went on to hold leadership roles with Oxfam and Save the Children, including as the first Chief Executive of Save the Children International from 2010 to 2015. She was CEO of London First from 2016 to 2021, and was previously Chair of the Board of Travis Perkins plc and a Non-Executive Director of BT Group plc and Standard Chartered plc.
External appointments: Non-Executive Director, Compagnie Financière Richemont SA; Visiting Fellow, Oxford University; Vice-President of the International Advisory Council, Institute of Business Ethics.
Dr. Ya-Qin Zhang
Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 1 January 2021
Nationality: American
Skills and experience: Ya-Qin is a world-renowned technologist, scientist and entrepreneur with a particular understanding of the changing consumer technology landscape in China. He was President of Baidu Inc., the global internet services and AI company, between 2014 and 2019. Prior to joining Baidu, he held several positions during his 16-year tenure at Microsoft, both in the United States and China, including Corporate Vice President and Chairman of Microsoft China. Ya-Qin is currently a Non-Executive Director of AsiaInfo Technologies Limited, ChinaSoft International Limited. He is also Chair Professor of AI Science at Tsinghua University.
External appointments: Non-Executive Director, AsiaInfo Technologies Limited, ChinaSoft International Limited and Horizon Robotics; Chair Professor, AI Science andProfessor, Institute for AI Industry Research, Tsinghua University; Board Member, Philanthropy Asia Alliance.
