Incoming WPP CEO Cindy Rose promises new start with lot of work ahead 

Cindy Rose, who was appointed to the role of WPP’s CEO on July 10, addressed WPP employees for the first time this week. As she succeeds Mark Read on September 1, she shared her vision for WPP’s continued success in the course of her tenure.

Sharing a video message with the staff, Rose mentioned her connection with WPP while being the Non-Executive Director on the Board since 2019. Mentioning that she has been lucky enough to experience the company from different angles, she says, “During my time at Vodafone, Virgin, and Microsoft, I was a client of Grey, VML, and Wunderman Thompson. I was also a strategic partner to WPP, helping the company embrace cloud and AI technology to drive our transformation.”

Coming back to the vision, she says that there’s a lot of hard work ahead, and it won’t be easy. She acknowledged the hard work put in by the employees already, saying, “When I think about the assets that we have as a company, the brilliant people we have, the multi-award-winning creative work that we produce, our beloved agency brands, our amazing clients, our global reach, our world-leading technology capabilities. Wow! I cannot help but feel excited about our future.”

Rose’s leadership comes at a crisis point when WPP slashed around 7,000 jobs, lowering the headcount to approximately 104,000, amid lagging profits and a major restructuring push. In the first half of 2025, operating profits plummeted nearly 50%, and the company cut its interim dividend while launching a strategic review. Meanwhile, its share price plunged 40% to reach a 16-year low.

Despite these setbacks, WPP continues to pursue its downgraded full-year targets, even as it absorbed a 5.8% underlying revenue drop in Q2 and lost significant clients like Mars Inc. and Paramount.