The most powerful man in advertising, Sir Martin Sorrell, has opened up on his acrimonious split from WPP in April and the unsavoury allegations that followed him out the door.
In an interview with the Press Association, Sorrell said his rancorous exit from the company he founded, that included allegations he’d used company money to hire prostitutes, had taken its toll on both him and his family.
“It’s been a very difficult three months since April 14th and it hasn’t been an easy time for me or my family,” Sorrell said.
“But the best way is to get back on the horse as quickly as possible. Perhaps build a business that is a little bit more orientated to modern day developments.”
Only last week, Sorrell’s new venture, S4 Capital, outbid WPP to snare the Dutch-based digital media company MediaMonks for a cool €300 million ($A472 million).
“I am very ambitious for the company,” he said before adding the “sky’s the limit” in terms of the ultimate scale of S4 Capital, though it “won’t be size for size’s sake”.
Not that WPP took the loss lying down. It has since said it would withhold a £20 million bonus owed to Sorrell claiming his purchase of MediaMonks contravened the non-compete he signed when he left WPP.
The company’s lawyers have also claimed the sale was illegal because Sorrell had intimate knowledge of WPP’s bid that he’d amassed while working on the company’s own bid when he was still CEO of the business.
