Adland veteran Sir Martin Sorrell on Tuesday said he still wants WPP, the firm he acrimoniously departed last year, to do well and he is “concerned” about progress there.
Sorrell was in Davos for the World Economic Forum as he spoke about WPP, which he left in 2018 following an allegation of personal misconduct that he denies.
“I remain a shareholder, so I’m very concerned about the progress that WPP makes too,” Sorrell, who holds 1.5% of WPP, told CNBC.
He added: “Obviously it’s not been an easy period over the last six months or so in terms of major clients at WPP, but having said that we’re very focused on that progress.” The company, which he ran for 33 years, lost a decades-old creative account for Ford last October. New boss Mark Read plans to cut jobs, simplify its structure and increase investments.
Sorrell, dubbed the Sage of Soho, also spoke about his new venture, digital advertising specialist S4 Capital.
He said the business, of which he is executive chairman, is focused on a smaller part of the market: “I can’t, for the life of me, believe that WPP is worried about little old S4Capital.”
Also in Switzerland today for the summit was Credit Suisse’s boss Tidjane Thiam, who said he is seeing market conditions improve after a tough fourth quarter, while Swiss bank UBS’s chairman Axel Weber said that central banks in Europe and the US seem to be on hold in their interest rate cycles.
Other big names due today included Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon, Centrica chief Iain Conn, hedge fund tycoon Ray Dalio and Unilever’s new chief executive Alan Jope.
