Who is Cindy Rose? Here’s all you need to know about WPP’s new CEO
WPP has announced that Cindy Rose will take over as Chief Executive Officer on 1 September 2025, succeeding Mark Read, who steps down after seven years in the role. Rose will become the third CEO in WPP’s history, and the first woman to hold the top post at the world’s largest advertising group by revenue.
The announcement came just one day after WPP issued a profit warning, downgrading its forecast for second-quarter organic revenue to a decline of between 5.5% and 6%, and for the full year to a 3%–5% drop. As a result, the company’s share price plunged 13%, reducing its market capitalisation to below £5 billion and signalling intensified investor concern over stagnating growth, client attrition, and WPP’s performance in North America.
According to WPP’s Chair, Philip Jansen, Rose was chosen after “a thorough selection process that considered both internal and external candidates.” He described her as an “outstanding and inspirational business leader” with a track record of “growing large-scale businesses,” especially in times of enterprise transformation.
Also read: What WPP’s next CEO must fix first
From law to leadership
Cindy Helen Rose, born in August 1965, holds dual British and American citizenship. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Political Science and earned her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1990. She began her career as a corporate lawyer and trained as a UK solicitor at Allen & Overy, gaining early exposure to global regulatory and legal frameworks.
Corporate journey
The Walt Disney Company (1995–2009): Rose spent 15 years at Disney in legal and executive roles, ultimately becoming Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Disney Interactive Media Group, EMEA. She also served as Managing Director for Disney UK and Ireland, gaining first-hand experience in brand building and digital content strategy.
Virgin Media (circa 2009–2013): As Executive Director of Digital Entertainment, she oversaw the launch of TiVo-powered pay-TV services and the Virgin TV Anywhere platform, initiatives aimed at driving on-demand, multi-platform content adoption during a time of intense disruption in media consumption.
Vodafone UK (2013–2016): Rose was appointed Managing Director of the UK Consumer Division and led the business through a significant turnaround. She reversed 12 consecutive quarters of revenue decline, expanded the retail store network from 350 to over 500 locations, and launched Vodafone Connect, its broadband service.
Microsoft (2016–2025): Rose joined Microsoft as CEO of UK operations and later served as President of Microsoft Western Europe, overseeing operations across 14 countries. Most recently, she was Chief Operating Officer for Global Enterprise, responsible for helping multinational companies deploy AI and cloud-based solutions to transform operations. Her final role at Microsoft positioned her at the forefront of large-scale digital and AI integration, a key reason cited for her WPP appointment.
Why WPP chose Cindy Rose
Rose arrives at WPP not as a traditional agency executive, but as what has been described internally as an “outsider-insider.” She has not held operational roles within advertising or marketing agencies but has served on the WPP board as a Non-Executive Director since 2019, giving her significant exposure to the company’s structure, leadership, and client portfolio. This board experience, combined with her external perspective shaped by senior client-side and technology-provider roles, appears central to her appointment.
Chairman Philip Jansen noted that “as an existing Board member, she understands our business and the needs of our clients,” while outgoing CEO Mark Read said she “has real insight into our business and knows many of our clients, people and partners around the world”.
Her recent responsibilities at Microsoft, supporting Fortune 500 companies through enterprise-level digital and AI-enabled transformation, directly align with WPP’s ambitions to further commercialise its WPP Open platform, an internal AI-powered marketing and data engine that now supports nearly 50,000 staff globally.
Rose’s dual UK and US citizenship and decision to split her time between London and New York further point to her expected focus on reversing WPP’s underperformance in North America, where the company has suffered notable client losses and lagged behind more tech-integrated rivals such as Publicis Groupe and Accenture Song.
Leadership philosophy
Rose has publicly aligned her leadership style with the principles of 'growth mindset,' a culture that prioritises learning, agility, and openness over rigid hierarchies. She has described the ideal leader as a 'learn-it-all rather than a know-it-all,' arguing that adaptability is key to navigating disruption.
At Microsoft, she was known for championing diversity, equity, and inclusion not as corporate talking points but as active, sustained practices. She described inclusion as a series of “dozens of small things you need to do every day” rather than “a box-ticking exercise.” She has also been a visible mentor for women in STEM fields and supported initiatives like DigiGirlz, aimed at encouraging more girls to enter technology careers.
Her leadership was the subject of a 2023 Harvard Business School case study titled “Leading Culture Change at Microsoft Western Europe,” which focused on how she maintained psychological safety and team collaboration during a period of cost-cutting and layoffs. It’s a precedent that may prove instructive as WPP implements further cost-saving measures amid market contraction.
Challenges and priorities
While her appointment has been welcomed by some industry observers as a bold shift, Rose faces significant challenges from day one:
Financial performance: Organic revenue growth has been revised downward for the third year in a row. WPP’s second-quarter forecast, released just prior to her appointment, confirmed a deeper-than-expected slump.
Client attrition: The company has lost high-profile accounts such as Mars and Coca-Cola’s US media business. Rebuilding client confidence will be critical.
North America: The largest ad market in the world remains a weak link for WPP. Fixing its underperformance is understood to be a key focus of Rose’s early strategy.
AI monetisation: Her success will depend on her ability to translate the company’s tech infrastructure, especially the WPP Open platform, into visible client value and financial return.
With this, WPP is at a pivotal crossroads. It's facing declining revenues, brand identity confusion, and fading market standing. Rose will have to focus on rebuilding trust, reviving clients, and re-energising talent globally.
In her first statement as incoming CEO, Rose acknowledged both the scale of the challenge and the depth of opportunity and said, “There are so many opportunities ahead for WPP. We have and continue to build market-leading AI capabilities, alongside an unrivalled reputation for creative excellence and a preeminent client list. WPP has the most brilliant, talented, creative people and I can't wait to write the company's next chapter together.”
She added, “WPP is a company I know and love – not only from my six years on the Board but as a client and partner for many years before that – and I couldn’t be happier or more excited to be appointed as CEO. I began my career in the creative industries and this feels like coming home.”
Rose’s appointment marks a deliberate break from WPP’s tradition of elevating internal agency talent to the CEO role. With experience in digital technology, enterprise AI, and customer transformation, and with six years of boardroom exposure to WPP’s internal operations, she is positioned as both a change agent and a stabilising force.
The coming months are expected to reveal how Rose intends to address WPP’s strategic and operational challenges. With the company under pressure to integrate its creative strengths with its technological investments, her tenure will likely serve as a key test of whether leadership from outside the traditional agency world can reposition a legacy holding company in an AI-driven market.
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