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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.
Roberto Quarta
Chairman
Appointed: 1 January 2015 (Chairman 9 June 2015)
Nationality: Italian and American
Skills and experience: Roberto has extensive experience in corporate governance and global commerce, having served on the boards of a number of UK and international companies. His career in private equity brings valuable experience to WPP, particularly when evaluating acquisitions and new business opportunities.
Roberto is Chairman of Smith & Nephew plc, a Partner of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, and Chairman of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Europe. He is an Independent Non-Executive Director of Gulf Capital. Previously he was Chief Executive and then Chairman of BBA Group plc, Chairman of Rexel SA, Chairman of IMI plc and a Non-Executive Director at BAE Systems plc, Equant NV, Foster Wheeler AG and PowerGen plc.
External appointments: Chairman, Smith & Nephew plc; Partner, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice; Chairman, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Europe; Independent Non-Executive Director, Gulf Capital.
Mark Read
Chief Executive Officer
Appointed: 3 September 2018
Nationality: British
Skills and experience: Mark has held multiple leadership positions at WPP since joining in 1989. As CEO of WPP Digital he was responsible for WPP’s first moves into technology. In 2015, he became Global CEO of Wunderman, which he transformed into one of the world’s leading agencies. Mark was voted the industry’s Most Influential Person 2019 in Econsultancy’s Top 100 Digital Agencies, and in 2022 was recognised as a Champion of Women in Business for the fifth consecutive year. Mark was awarded a Fellowship for outstanding services to the industry in the IPA’s 2021 New Year’s Honours.
Mark has an economics degree from Trinity College, Cambridge, was a Henry Fellow at Harvard University, and has an MBA from INSEAD.
External appointments: Trustee, Natural History Museum.
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. 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 and spent three years in Hong Kong.
External appointments: Non-Executive Director, Informa plc.
Angela Ahrendts DBE
Senior Independent Director, Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 1 July 2020
Nationality: British and American
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: Non-Executive Director, Ralph Lauren Corporation and Airbnb, Inc.; Chair of Save the Children International; Non-Executive Director, Charity: water, Imagine and The HOW Institute for Society; Member of the Global Leadership Council of the Oxford University Saïd Business School and BritishAmerican Business International Advisory Board.
Simon Dingemans
Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 31 January 2022
Nationality: British
Skills and experience: Simon has extensive business, capital markets, corporate finance and governance experience, and is currently a Senior Advisor at global investment firm The Carlyle Group. He was previously CFO of GlaxoSmithKline plc.
Prior to GSK, Simon worked in investment banking at SG Warburg and then Goldman Sachs, where he was Managing Director and Partner for 10 years as a leader of its European M&A business and Head of UK Investment Banking. Simon is Chairman of Genomics plc and previously served as Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council and as Chairman of the 100 Group. Simon has a master’s degree in geography from Oxford University.
External appointments: Chairman, Genomics plc; Senior Advisor, The Carlyle Group.
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. Sandrine is currently CFO of UCB, a global pharmaceutical company. Previously she 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. He is Chair of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and CEO of Crossword Cybersecurity plc. Tom was previously Managing Director of Consumer Markets at Callcredit Information Group. Prior to Callcredit, Tom founded and was CEO of Garlik, an identity protection company.
Tom has honorary doctorates from City, University of London, Coventry University, Portsmouth University and the University of Wolverhampton, and is an Honorary Fellow of both Jesus College and St Anne’s College, Oxford. In 2017 Tom topped the Powerlist ranking of the most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the UK.
External appointments: Founder and CEO, Crossword Cybersecurity plc; Chair, Iternal Limited (previously known as Deathio Ltd); Founder and Chair, African Gifted Foundation; Chair, The Rugby Football Union (RFU).
Cindy Rose OBE
Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 1 April 2019
Nationality: British and American
Skills and experience: Cindy has extensive experience as a leader in the technology and media sectors, and brings exceptional knowledge of the role technology plays in business transformation. She was appointed Chief Operating Officer for Microsoft Global Enterprise in March 2023. Prior to this, Cindy was President of Microsoft Western Europe, and also CEO of Microsoft UK. She has also 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, ultimately as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Disney Interactive Media Group.
Cindy is a graduate of Colombia University and New York Law School.
External appointments: Chief Operating Officer, Microsoft Global Enterprise; Advisory Board Member, Imperial College Business School in London and McLaren.
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; Trustee Director, Business in the Community; Board Trustee, Grange Park Opera; President, Royal Horticultural Society; Board Trustee, Leverhulme Trust; Senior Advisor, Bain Capital, Alix Partners; Advisory Board Member, i-Genie and McLaren.
Jasmine Whitbread
Non-Executive Director
Appointed: 1 September 2019
Nationality: British and Swiss
Skills and experience: Jasmine’s experience spans marketing, technology, finance, media, 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 a Non-Executive Director of BT Group plc.
External appointments: Chair of the Board, Travis Perkins plc; Non-Executive Director, Compagnie Financière Richemont SA; Visiting Fellow, Oxford University.
