Former WPP boss Mark Read announces next move

Mark Read, the former chief executive of WPP, has been appointed chairman of the board at media measurement and analytics business Kantar Media.

Commenting on his new role, Read said: “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,” said Read.

The board is new, following Kantar Media’s transition to ownership under private equity group HIG Capital.

Read was CEO of WPP from 2018 to 2025 and succeeded by former Microsoft executive Cindy Rose on September 1 this year. When he announced he would be stepping down from the role in June, the network said he would remain at the business until December this year to help with the leadership transition.

Before becoming CEO of WPP, Read led strategy for the holding company through WPP Digital and was CEO of digital agency Wunderman.

Previously part of Kantar Group, which is owned by Bain Capital and WPP, Kantar Media was sold to HIG in August this year, making it one of the last deals to be overseen by Read during his leadership of WPP.

Patrick Béhar, chief executive of Kantar Media, said Read has joined the business “at a pivotal moment” in its history and that he “shares our ambition to transform the industry by bringing clarity to a complex landscape”.

Béhar added: “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.”