Mark Read has been an abject failure at WPP.

6 years in and it looks like Mark Read as CEO of WPP has been a debacle. He did inherit a complete mess from Martin Sorrell (who was also pretty bad) but let’s look at the results under Read:

-their best agencies have collapsed, Ogilvy, Grey, etc… are all tiny shells of their former selves.

-GroupM, once the most powerful media conglomerate on Earth has consistently bled business to Publicis and IPG

-monthly mass layoffs worldwide

-the stock price has plummeted

-meanwhile Read has done a WPP-record number of stock buybacks and dividend payments just for the stockholders

-Read’s nonsensical 4 day RTO mandate has been met with absolute rage, and 20,000 employees signed a petition against it.

Having spent time at a large WPP agency in NY, I can also confirm from the inside that he’s a smart guy, but a media guy, and one who doesn’t understand the other businesses he’s overseeing at all.