# WPP plc
> WPP · LSE: WPP · London, United Kingdom
- Profile type: Company
- Profile status: comprehensive
- Last updated: 2026-05-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Canonical URL: https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/wpp/
- Also known as: WPP, WPP Group, WPP plc, Wire and Plastic Products, Wire and Plastic Products plc, GroupM, WPP Media
## Summary
WPP plc (LSE: WPP) is a London-listed advertising and communications holding company — one of the big three alongside Omnicom and Publicis — managing $60B+ in annual media investment through its subsidiaries. Its media-buying arm GroupM was rebranded WPP Media on May 28, 2025. Cindy Rose, formerly COO of Microsoft Global Enterprise and a WPP board member since 2019, became CEO on September 1, 2025, succeeding Mark Read and inheriting a turnaround mandate after FY2025 revenue fell 8.1% to £13.6B.

## Company facts

- Ticker: LSE: WPP
- Founded: 1985
- Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
- Domain: wpp.com
- CEO: cindy rose (https://thestateofstreaming.com/people/cindy-rose/)


## Latest metrics

- Revenue: £13.6bn total revenue / £10.2bn revenue less pass-through costs (FY2025, down 8.1% reported, down 5.4% like-for-like)
- As of: 2025-12-31
- Source: https://www.wpp.com/en-us/news/2026/02/strategy-update-and-2025-preliminary-results


## Key facts

- Cindy Rose became CEO of WPP on September 1, 2025, succeeding Mark Read. Rose — an OBE honoree — was previously COO of Microsoft's Global Enterprise business and had served on WPP's board as a non-executive director since 2019; she also previously held senior roles at Vodafone, Virgin Media, and Disney. — WPP press release: https://www.wpp.com/en-us/news/2025/07/chief-executive-officer-appointment
- WPP rebranded its media-buying arm GroupM as WPP Media on May 28, 2025, consolidating Mindshare, Wavemaker, and EssenceMediacom into a single AI-powered operating structure that manages more than $60 billion in annual media investment for clients across roughly 80 markets; individual agency brands were retained but the units no longer operate as separate businesses. — WPP press release: https://www.wpp.com/en-us/news/2025/05/wpp-media-launches-as-fully-integrated-ai-powered-media-company
- WPP reported FY2025 revenue of £13,550m (down 8.1% reported, 3.6% like-for-like) and revenue less pass-through costs of £10,176m (down 5.4% like-for-like), and launched the Elevate28 restructuring plan targeting £500m in gross cost savings by 2028 and a return to organic growth in 2027. — WPP 2025 Preliminary Results: https://www.wpp.com/en-us/news/2026/02/strategy-update-and-2025-preliminary-results
- Sir Martin Sorrell took control of Wire and Plastic Products plc in 1985 and used the LSE-listed shell to acquire J. Walter Thompson (1987) and Ogilvy & Mather (1989), building the holding company that became WPP. — Encyclopedic reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Sorrell
- WPP is a founding member of the IAB Tech Lab's Programmatic Governance Council (PGC), the cross-industry body launched in 2025 to set governance standards for programmatic advertising. — AdExchanger: https://www.adexchanger.com/technology/the-tech-labs-new-programmatic-governance-council-is-so-over-all-the-ad-tech-drama/


## Related

- wpp media (subsidiary (media-buying arm, formerly GroupM)) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/wpp-media/
- omnicom group (competitor (global holding company)) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/omnicom-group/
- publicis groupe (competitor (global holding company)) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/publicis-groupe/
- cindy rose (CEO) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/people/cindy-rose/
- mark read (former CEO) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/people/mark-read/


## External coverage

- WPP plc: WPP Investor Relations (https://www.wpp.com/en-us/investors)
- 2026-02-26 — WPP plc: Strategy Update and 2025 Preliminary Results (https://www.wpp.com/en-us/news/2026/02/strategy-update-and-2025-preliminary-results)
- 2025-05-06 — WPP plc: WPP Media launches as fully integrated, AI-powered media company (https://www.wpp.com/en-us/news/2025/05/wpp-media-launches-as-fully-integrated-ai-powered-media-company)
- 2025-07-10 — WPP plc: Chief Executive Officer Appointment (https://www.wpp.com/en-us/news/2025/07/chief-executive-officer-appointment)
- 2025-07-10 — Fortune: WPP names Microsoft executive Rose as CEO in turnaround push (https://fortune.com/europe/2025/07/10/wpp-microsoft-executive-cindy-rose-ceo-in-turnaround-push/)
- 2025-05-06 — Variety: WPP Erases 'GroupM,' One of Madison Avenue's Most Influential Names (https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/wpp-media-groupm-rename-advertising-1236411920/)

## Profile
WPP is one of the three global advertising holding companies that, alongside Omnicom and Publicis, set the rate for how the world's largest brand budgets are deployed. Our coverage focuses on the parts of WPP that touch CTV and streaming directly: WPP Media, the rebrand of GroupM confirmed on May 28, 2025 that consolidated Mindshare, Wavemaker, and EssenceMediacom into a single AI-forward operating model; WPP's seat on the IAB Tech Lab Programmatic Governance Council; and the Cindy Rose era, which began September 1, 2025 with a turnaround mandate after FY2025 revenue fell 8.1% and the company launched Elevate28 — a multi-phase restructuring targeting £500m in gross savings by 2028.

For most CTV-relevant questions about WPP — agentic media buying, programmatic governance posture, identity and addressability investments, AI-content tooling — the operative entity is WPP Media. This page tracks the parent.
## Coverage on The State of Streaming
- ['Independent' Has Stopped Meaning Anything Buyers Can Audit](https://thestateofstreaming.com/opinion/2026/04/independent-adtech-stack-walled-garden-thesis-2/) — 2026-04-27
- ['Independent' Has Stopped Meaning Anything Buyers Can Audit](https://thestateofstreaming.com/opinion/2026/04/independent-adtech-stack-walled-garden-thesis/) — 2026-04-27
- [IAB Tech Lab's New Transparency Council Seats Holdcos, Not Brands](https://thestateofstreaming.com/advertising-adtech/2026/04/iab-tech-lab-pgc-leap-launch/) — 2026-04-26

## Tags

- advertising-holding-company
- agency-network
- media-buying
- programmatic
- public
- LSE
- FTSE-100
- turnaround

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