Former CEO of WPP Mark Read has joined Kantar Media as chairman of the board of directors.
Mark Read has had a long career in the advertising and media industry, most recently as CEO of WPP from 2018 to 2025. Prior to that he led strategy for WPP, made its early moves into digital media through WPP Digital and was CEO of Wunderman, a global digital agency.
The move comes less than three months after Cindy Rose was appointed as WPP’s new CEO in September.
On his recent move, Read said in a statement, “Kantar Media serves a unique and essential role in the media ecosystem—helping advertisers, agencies, media owners and platforms understand how people are consuming media and how best to direct their media investments.
I am delighted to join Kantar Media’s board as Chairman, and to support Patrick and his Leadership team in bringing greater clarity to the media ecosystem at a time when audience behaviour is changing more rapidly than ever.”
Back in 2019 WPP sold a 60 per cent stake in Kantar to private equity firm Bain Capital for around $US3.1 billion ($4.8 billion), and that it plans to return $US1.25 billion to shareholders. Then this year Kantar Media was then sold by Kantar Group and Bain Capital to H.I.G. Capital. The transaction concluded in August, and this newly formed board is the first, fully independent board for the company.
“Mark’s appointment underscores our commitment to backing Kantar Media with exceptional leadership. His deep industry knowledge and proven track record in driving transformation and innovation will be invaluable as Patrick and his team take the company into its next phase of growth,” said Nishant Nayyar, managing director at H.I.G. Capital.
“We are honoured that Mark has chosen to join Kantar Media’s board at a pivotal moment in our company’s journey. Mark combines deep strategic thinking with practical experience in transformation, data and AI, and most importantly he shares our ambition to transform the industry by bringing clarity to a complex landscape. I have every confidence that with his support Kantar Media will continue to deliver best in class results for our clients globally” concluded Patrick Béhar, CEO of Kantar Media.
Read is set to stay on as an advisor at WPP through to the end of the year.
