Sir Martin Sorrell has wasted no time weighing in to the debate following the official announcement of Mark Read as his replacement as new CEO of WPP.
Read had long been touted as the favourite for the job with Andrew Scott, who was confirmed in the role of chief operating officer, making him Read’s de facto number two.
The duo had been effectively running the company since Sorrell’s abrupt departure back in April.
Yesterday, Sorrell labelled WPP’s five month search for a new chief as a “complete waste of time”.
“The last five months have been a complete waste of time, particularly when our biggest client [Ford] is in review,” Sorrell told UK industry site Campaign.
“I wrote to both Mark and Andrew last night, congratulating them and making a few observations.
“I think they can be very successful but it’s essential they are a twosome.
“Ironically, it’s taken exactly five months to get to the same position as was agreed on 3 April, before the leak [of the investigation into Sorrell’s alleged misconduct as CEO] to the Wall Street Journal,” he said in reference to how the duo had already been appointed as as interim leaders of WPP at that time.
WPP has not responded to Sorrell’s comments.
Since his abrupt exit, Sorrell has regularly criticised the WPP board, complained about his treatment, and strongly denied the allegations levelled against him.
He then famously beat WPP in the winning bid for Dutch production firm MediaMonks in July with many speculating Sorrell would begin to actively compete against his old firm despite a non-compete clause in his contract.
