BNET Industries
Market Cap:$11.8B
Last Fiscal Year Sales:$9.1B
- Public
- UK
Dow Jones Description
Through our companies, WPP Group plc offers a comprehensive and, when appropriate, integrated range of communications services. We relieve our companies of financial work (such as planning, budgeting, reporting, mergers, control, treasury, tax, mergers, acquisitions, investor relations) that can instead be spent devoted to the pursuit of professional excellence. We encourage and enable our companies of different disciplines to work together, for the benefit of clients and the satisfaction of our people. In the management of talent, the parent company plays an across-the-Group role. A recent development, and for a minority of clients, WPP itself can function as the 21st century equivalent of the full-service agency, acting as a portal to provide a single point of contact and accountability.
Chief Executive Officer
Martin SorrellNumber of Employees 110,000
Peer Companies
NAICS Code Advertising Agencies: 541810
Recent Events
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3 things that keep News Corp. execs awake at night
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News Corp. strikes ad partnership, sees MySpace strength
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Ad Agency Claims It Owns The Right To Product Placement; Sues Competitors
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STOCKS NEWS UK-Hirco up on rise in NAV
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WPP: 'Armageddon' Averted as Ad Company Hits Optimistic Notes
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Yahoo Partners With Group MÂ Â 5 hrs ago
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UPDATE: 4 Big Ad Agencies Back Microsoft-Yahoo Search Pact
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Report: WPP Suit Against Spot Runner Dismissed
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Ferguson, part of CommonHealth: Ferguson Elevates Staff and Hires New Employees
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Corrected: WPP eyes huge savings in consolidation
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BRIEF-Moody's cuts WPP senior unsecured debt to Baa3
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Roundup: Dell up, phishing down, App Store forecasts all around
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30-SECOND SPOT / DISPATCHES FROM THE WORLD OF MEDIA AND ADVERTISING
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HLS, part of CommonHealth: HLS Promotes and Expands
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Conectics, part of CommonHealth: Conectics Flourishes With Promotions and New Hires
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INTERVIEW-WPP says clients still shy on spending
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Slump Socks Ad Industry's Small End
News & Analysis
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wpp group plc. - All News and Analysis
Martin Sorrell: Newspaper/Magazine Contraction Must Continue
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- WPP Group CEO Martin Sorrell not only thinks the contraction of the newspaper and magazine industry will continue, but that it NEEDS to continue. In keynote remarks that opened this week's Ad-Tech in New York, Sorrell cited the over-capacity of supply and inventory as a major...
Court Dismisses WPP's $13 Million Lawsuit Against Spot Runner
WPP Group’s lawsuit against web-based TV creative ad agency Spot Runner for securities fraud and breach of contract has been dismissed, sources close to the legal dispute tell paidContent. WPP, which helped lead a $40 million funding in the Los Angeles company about three years ago, accused Spot...
WPP's knight foresees early dawn and many rising stars in the East
Sir Martin Sorrell sat before the Capitol as an invited guest at the inauguration of President Obama in Washington before heading out to JF Kennedy airport to catch an overnight flight back to London. He arrived at Heathrow at 9.30am, plenty of time in Sir Martin's world to go straight...
German firm GfK pulls out of TNS takeover
GfK, the German market information group, has pulled out of the running to take over Taylor Nelson Sofres TNS, its UK counterpart, leaving Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP Group as the only hostile bid in town. The news of GfK's withdrawal left TNS no warmer towards the advertising giant's...
TNS agrees to open its books to WPP
Taylor Nelson Sofres TNS has finally agreed to open its books to WPP Group, which is attempting to gatecrash the market research company's agreed merger with Germany's GfK, despite its board already having rejected two proposed bids from the advertising powerhouse. TNS announced yesterday that it would provide...
CW surprises with Sunday prime-time plans; In attempt to reach larger audience, enlists help of independent company.(News)(Media Rights Capital)
Byline: BRIAN STEINBERG Just days before it presents next season's programming to marketers, the CW revealed it was turning Sunday nights over to an independent production company that will attempt to broaden the network's reach. The CW, which launched last year...
WPP 2007 Preliminary Results
Billings up over 5% to PS31.7 billion Revenue up almost 5% to PS6.186 billion Constant currency revenue up over 8% Like-for-like revenue up 5% Headline EBITDA rises over 7% to PS1.072 billion Headline operating margin up 0.5 margin points to 15.0% Headline operating profit...
Agencies; Media planner: the names, stats and insight you will need for the coming year in marketing.(rankings of advertising agencies)(Brief article)
From the top: Forget advertising's Big Four. It's really the Big Two and the other two. Full-year 2007 results aren't in yet, but revenue for the first nine months shows how the ranking is tightening up. No. 2 WPP Group ($8.75 billion through September) isn't far...
Agencies.(Annual 2007)(Brief article)(Company rankings)
from the top: Forget advertising's Big Four. It's really the Big Two and the other two. Full-year 2007 results aren't in yet, but revenue for the first nine months shows how the ranking is tightening up. No. 2 WPP Group ($8.75 billion through September) isn't far...
Visible Technologies Secures Series B Funding
Ignition Partners and WPP Group Co-Lead Financing for Growing Seattle Company SEATTLE -- Visible Technologies, a leading provider of Internet brand and reputation management services, today announced it has secured $12 million in Series B funding from Ignition Partners and WPP Group, plc. Ignition Partners is a premier venture...
Decision Makers
| Name (plus bio) | Position |
|---|---|
| Martin Sorrell | Chief Executive Officer |
| Tro Piliguian | Chief Operating Officer |
| Feona McEwan | Director, Communications, London |
| John O'Keeffe | Worldwide Creative Director |
| Mark Read | Executive Strategy director |
| Paul Richardson | Group Finance Director |
| Vanessa Edwards | Manager, Communications |
Board of Directors
| Name (plus bio) | Position |
|---|---|
| Philip Lader | Chairman |
| Christopher Mackenzie | Board of Directors |
| Colin Day | Board of Directors |
| David H. Komansky | Board of Directors |
| Esther Dyson | Board of Directors |
| Jeffrey A. Rosen | Board of Directors |
| John Quelch | Board of Directors |
| Koichiro Naganuma | Board of Directors |
| Lubna S Olayan | Board of Directors |
| Orit Gadiesh | Board of Directors |
| Paul Spencer | Board of Directors |
| Stanley Morten | Board of Directors |
| Timothy P. Shriver | Board of Directors |
Sir Martin Sorrell joined WPP in 1985 as a director, becoming Group chief executive in 1986.
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Chief Executive Officer | Current |
| London Business School | Deputy Chairman | Current |
| Saatchi & Saatchi | Group Finance Director | Former |
| WPP Group plc | Director | Former |
| Harvard University | MBA | Former |
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Chief Operating Officer | Current |
| Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Inc. | Board of Directors | Current |
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Director, Communications, London | Current |
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Worldwide Creative Director | Current |
| Bartle Bogle Hegarty Limited | Executive Director, Creative | Former |
Mark Read was appointed a director in March 2005. He has been WPP's director of strategy since 2002. He worked at WPP between 1989 and 1995 in both parent company and operating company roles. Prior to rejoining WPP in 2002, he was a principal at Booz-Allen & Hamilton and founded and developed the company WebRewards in the UK.
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Executive Strategy director | Current |
| Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. | principal | Former |
Paul Richardson became Group finance director in 1996 after four years as director of treasury. He is responsible for the Group's worldwide functions in finance, information technology, procurement and property. Previously with the central finance team of Hanson PLC, he is a non-executive director of Chime Communications PLC and STW Communications Group Limited in Australia.
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Group Finance Director | Current |
| Blue Reef - Entertainment | Finance Director | Current |
| STW Communications Group Ltd. | Director | Current |
| Chime Communications Plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| STW Communications Group Ltd. | non-executive director | Former |
| Hanson PLC | Former |
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Manager, Communications | Current |
Mr. Lader, the former U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, is non-executive Chairman of WPP Group plc, the worldwide advertising/communications firm. He is also a Senior Adviser to Morgan Stanley, a director of WPP, Lloyd's of London, Marathon Oil and AES Corporations, a trustee of RAND Corporation, St. Paul's Cathedral, and The Salzburg Seminar, and a partner at the law firm, Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough. Ambassador Lader served in President Clinton's Cabinet and was White House Deputy Chief of Staff and an Assistant to the President, Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget, and Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Before entering government service, he had been Executive Vice President of Sir James Goldsmith's U.S. holdings, President of Sea Pines Company, and President of universities in South Carolina and Australia, as well as a candidate for South Carolina Governor in 1986. He founded Renaissance Weekends, the non-partisan family retreats for innovative leaders from diverse fields, in 1981. Mr. Lader resides in Charleston, SC.
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Morgan Stanley | Senior Advisor | Current |
| WPP Group plc | Chairman | Current |
| RAND Corporation | Board of Directors | Current |
| The AES Corporation | Board of Directors | Current |
Christopher Mackenzie was appointed a director in 2000. He is chief executive of Equilibrium, a London-based financial advisory partnership, and Executive Chairman of Brunswick Capital, Russia's leading investment bank and non-bank financial services group. He is also a board member of ALJ, Saudi Arabia's largest non-government industrial group. Previously he was president and CEO of Trizec Properties and a company officer of GE, heading GE Capital's international business development.
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| Trizec Properties | CEO | Former |
| General Electric Capital Corporation | Officer | Former |
Colin Day is Group Chief Financial Officer (since 2005) and Director of Reckitt Benckiser. Colin Day started his career in 1973 as a trainee accountant at Kodak. A year later he joined British Gas, where he worked as an internal audit, management and project accountant for five years.
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Reckitt Benckiser, Inc. | Group Chief Financial Officer | Current |
| Fifty Lessons Ltd. | Group Chief Financial Officer, Reckitt Benckiser | Current |
| Reckitt Benckiser plc | Chief Financial Officer | Current |
| Reckitt Benckiser plc | Executive Director | Current |
| Imperial Tobacco Group plc | Non-Executive Director | Current |
| Benckiser N.V. | Current | |
| Reckitt Benckiser plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| WPP Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| Imperial Tobacco Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| Reckitt Benckiser, Inc. | Director | Current |
| Reckitt Benckiser, Inc. | Executive Director | Former |
| Aegis Group plc | Group Finance Director | Former |
| Reckitt Benckiser plc | Group Finance Director | Former |
| British Gas | Former |
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| First Monday | Consulting Editor | Current |
| Wpp Group Ltd. | Board of Directors | Current |
| Meetup Inc. | Board of Directors | Current |
| The Long Now Foundation | Board of Directors | Current |
| Evernote Corporation | Board of Directors | Current |
| Airship Ventures, Inc. | Board of Directors | Current |
| StopBadware.org | Board of Advisors | Current |
| Viewpoints Network, LLC | Board of Advisors | Current |
| PGP Corporation | Board of Advisors | Current |
| O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, LLC | Board of Advisors | Current |
| Icosystem Corporation | Board of Advisors | Current |
| Choicestream, Inc. | Board of Advisors | Current |
| AnchorFree Inc. | Board of Advisors | Current |
| The After-School Corporation | Board of Directors | Current |
| Sunlight Foundation | Board of Directors | Current |
| Santa Fe Institute | Board of Directors | Current |
| Eurasia Foundation | Board of Directors | Current |
| WPP Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| CVO Group | Board of Directors | Current |
| Boxbe, Inc. | Board of Directors | Current |
| 23andMe, Inc. | Board of Directors | Current |
| Zedo, Inc. | Board of Directors | Current |
| EDventure Holdings | Co-Owner | Former |
| Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers | Chairman | Former |
| Electronic Frontier Foundation | Chairman | Former |
| Harvard Business School | MBA | Former |
| Harvard University | Bachelor's Degree, Economics | Former |
| Harvard University | Degree | Former |
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
Koichiro Naganuma was appointed a director in February 2004. He is president and group chief operating officer of Asatsu-DK. Having joined ADK in 1981, he began his career with the international arm of the agency, his mandate expanding the total operation of the group. He replaced ADK Chairman Masao Inagaki on the Board. ADK is Japan's third largest advertising and communications company. WPP took a 20% interest in ADK in 1998.
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
As CEO of Olayan Financing Company, Lubna Olayan is responsible for the Olayan Group's business and investments in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. In December 2004, she was elected to the Board of Saudi Hollandi Bank. From 1996 through 2004, she served on the board of Chelsfield, the UK property developer. She is a member of INSEAD's International Council and a trustee of the Arab Thought Foundation. She is also a member on the Arab Business Council and the Women's Leadership Initiative of the World Economic Forum.
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| The Olayan Group | CEO, Olayan Financing Company | Current |
| WPP Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Bain & Company | Chairman | Current |
| Federal Reserve Bank of Boston | Board of Directors | Current |
| Harvard Business School | Board of Directors | Current |
| WPP Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| Harvard Business School | MBA | Former |
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereign Reversions Plc | Chairman | Current |
| Tr Property Investment Trust Plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| WPP Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| Mactavish Group | Board of Directors | Current |
| Resolution plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| Nipponkoa Insurance Co., Ltd. | Board of Directors | Current |
| Hanson PLC | Chief Executive | Former |
| Hanson PLC | Group Finance Director | Former |
| Rolls-Royce plc | Treasurer | Former |
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| WPP Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
| Punk Ziegel & Co. | Chief Operating Officer | Former |
| Organization | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Cdex, Inc. | Chief Operating Officer | Current |
| Cdex, Inc. | Project Manager for the Meth Scanner | Current |
| Special Olympics Connecticut, Inc | Chairman | Current |
| WPP Group plc | Board of Directors | Current |
Executive News
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'Net takes Manhattan
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Need to know: Nissan in Russia ... GSK drug progress ... AIG sale
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WPP Shareholders OK $100 Million in Potential Bonuses for Sorrell
-
Nissan in Russia ... GSK drug progress ... AIG sale
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Martin Sorrells 60m bonus is voted through
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WPP sees off revolt on 60m bonus scheme
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Ex Vodafone head takes 500k for moving home
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PRESS DIGEST - British business - June 2
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WPP's rebels face defeat over bonus
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WPP's rebels face defeat on chief Sir Martin Sorrell's bonus
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WPP Stockholders Urged to Vote Against Sorrell Bonus Package
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Pirc urges WPP investors to reject bonus scheme
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Fight Over Bonus Plan at WPP
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PRESS DIGEST - British business - May 23
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Shell can be sure of pumping up volume of investor anger
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Honda pay cuts ... Corus at risk ... HSBA acquisition
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Need to know: Honda pay cuts ... Corus at risk ... HSBA acquisition
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Shell sure to pump up volume of investor anger
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WPP braced for investor rebellion as it proposes 60m bonus payout for Sorrell
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WPP proposes 60m bonus payout for Sorrell
| Volume | 481,781 |
| Shares Outstanding | 250.7M |
| Market Cap | 11.8B |
| Year High | 49.00 |
| Year Low | 22.35 |
| Earnings Per Share | 1.8510 |
| P/E Ratio | 25.57 |
| Dividend | 1.2475 |
| Yield | 2.6357 |
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